Capstone Change Project Evaluation Plan

Evaluation is an important process in any serious project. It helps to determine whether the proposed change has actually taken place (Ginex, 2018). If this has happened, then it can be said that the project has been effectively implemented. However, the evaluation team must have evidence that can be used to prove this. To get the evidence, it is necessary to choose an effective method that can be used to collect information about the outcome or impact of the project activities (Sharma et al., 2017; Kaczmarek & Romaniuk, 2020). It is also important for the team to identify appropriate indicators for measuring the success of the project (Ginex, 2018). The current change project proposal focuses on promoting the health of marginalized populations. Its objective is to put in place appropriate initiatives for effective disease prevention and control among these groups. The expected outcome of the current project is that it will increase these populations’ access to healthcare services and healthcare information. This will in turn enable them to have improved health outcomes.

The purpose of the current evaluation is to determine whether the goals and expected outcomes of the proposed project are met. The evaluation team will comprise healthcare providers, managers, administrators, and other stakeholders. The responsibility of this team in the evaluation must be clearly stated (Sharma et al., 2017; Ginex, 2018). Due to time constraints, the project will adopt summative evaluation method. This technique enables the project team to gather and analyze important data about the outcome of a given intervention (Kaczmarek & Romaniuk, 2020). In most cases, summative evaluation is often conducted at the completion of a project. In the current project, this method will be used to determine the effectiveness of various project activities at the end of their implementation. These include establishment of healthcare facilities, recruitment of healthcare workers, provision of affordable healthcare cover, and sensitization of the targeted populations through health education.

For the sake of the current project, data for the evaluation will be collected using both quantitative and qualitative tools. These include questionnaires, in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and observation checklists (Melnyk et al., 2014; Spruce, 2015). The collected data will then be analyzed using qualitative and quantitative means. Some of the indicators of the success of this change proposal may include the number of new healthcare facilities constructed in the targeted areas, the number of healthcare providers serving these regions, the number of patients receiving healthcare services in a day, and the number of people sensitized through health education. These numbers are expected to increase at the end of the project. They are not expected to remain as they are during baseline. It is also important to ensure that the evaluation is guided by appropriate questions that can be easily handled by the respondents (Melnyk et al., 2014; Kaczmarek & Romaniuk, 2020). Each of the questions should focus on both the project outcome and indicators.

There is also need to think about the resources available for the evaluation. This means that during the planning phase, there must be a budget for evaluation (Giomuso et al., 2014; Spruce, 2015). The major resources that need to be considered for the current project for change include financial resources, human resources, and material resources. It is as well necessary to have a timeline for the evaluation plan (Stetler et al., 2014; Spruce, 2015). This means that the process of evaluation should be guided by a clear timetable. Lastly, there is need to disseminate the findings of the evaluation (Melnyk et al., 2014).  Both internal and external method of dissemination can be used.

References:

Ginex, P. K. (2018). Use These Methods to Evaluate EBP Outcomes and Disseminate Results. Retrieved from https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/use-these-methods-to-evaluate-ebp-outcomes-and-disseminate-results

Giomuso, C. B., Jones, L. M., Long, D., Chandler, T., Kresevic, D., & Pulphus, D. (2014). A successful approach to implementing evidence-based practice. MedSurg Nursing, 23 (4): pp. S4+. Retrieved from https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA382083709&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10920811&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E25bb6818

Kaczmarek, K., & Romaniuk, P. (2020). The use of evaluation methods for the overall assessment of health policy: potential and limitations. Cost Eff Resour Alloc, 18: 43.doi: 10.1186/s12962-020-00238-4

Melnyk, B. M., Gallagher-Ford, L., Long, L. E., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2014). The establishment of evidence-based practice competencies for practicing registered nurses and advanced practice nurses in real-world clinical settings: proficiencies to improve healthcare quality, reliability, patient outcomes, and costs. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs, 11 (1):5-15. doi: 10.1111/wvn.12021. Epub 2014 Jan 21. PMID: 24447399.

Sharma, S., Adetoro, O. O., Vidler, M., Drebit, S., Payne, B. A., Akeju, D. O., Adepoju, A., Jaiyeimi, E., Sotunsa, J., Bhutta, Z. A., Magee, L. A., Dadelszen, P., & Dada, O. (2017). A process evaluation plan for assessing a complex community-based maternal health intervention in Ogun State, Nigeria. BMC Health Services Research, 17 (238). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2124-4

Spruce, L. (2015). Back to basics: implementing evidence-based practice. AORN J, 101 (1):106-12. doi: 10.1016/j.aorn.2014.08.009. PMID: 25537331.

Stetler, C. B., Ritchie, J. A., Rycroft-Malone, J., & Charns, M. P. (2014). Leadership for evidence-based practice: strategic and functional behaviors for institutionalizing EBP. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs, 11 (4):219-26. doi: 10.1111/wvn.12044. Epub 2014 Jul 1. PMID: 24986669; PMCID: PMC4240461.