Assignment: Assessing a Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation
Program/policy evaluation is a valuable tool that can help strengthen the quality of programs/policies and improve outcomes for the populations they serve. Program/policy evaluation answers basic questions about program/policy effectiveness. It involves collecting and analyzing information about program/policy activities, characteristics, and outcomes. This information can be used to ultimately improve program services or policy initiatives.
Nurses can play a very important role assessing program/policy evaluation for the same reasons that they can be so important to program/policy design. Nurses bring expertise and patient advocacy that can add significant insight and impact. In this Assignment, you will practice applying this expertise and insight by selecting an existing healthcare program or policy evaluation and reflecting on the criteria used to measure the effectiveness of the program/policy.
To Prepare:
Review the Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation Analysis Template provided in the Resources.
Select an existing healthcare program or policy evaluation or choose one of interest to you.
Review community, state, or federal policy evaluation and reflect on the criteria used to measure the effectiveness of the program or policy described.
The Assignment: (2–3 pages)
Based on the program or policy evaluation you selected, complete the Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation Analysis Template. Be sure to address the following:
Describe the healthcare program or policy outcomes.
How was the success of the program or policy measured?
How many people were reached by the program or policy selected?
How much of an impact was realized with the program or policy selected?
At what point in program implementation was the program or policy evaluation conducted?
What data was used to conduct the program or policy evaluation?
What specific information on unintended consequences was identified?
What stakeholders were identified in the evaluation of the program or policy? Who would benefit most from the results and reporting of the program or policy evaluation? Be specific and provide examples.
Did the program or policy meet the original intent and objectives? Why or why not?
Would you recommend implementing this program or policy in your place of work? Why or why not?
Identify at least two ways that you, as a nurse advocate, could become involved in evaluating a program or policy after 1 year of implementation.
Assignment: Assessing a Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality engages in regular program evaluation to establish the effectiveness of ongoing healthcare programs. One such program evaluation is for the patient self-management support program. The analysis involves part of a continuing evaluation to establish the efficacy of programs aimed at supporting patient self-management.
The Healthcare Program or Policy Outcomes
The healthcare program outcomes include improvement of self-care and management by patients with chronic illnesses. Patients acquiring and using the self-management support program should ensure that it will help them to improve self-management for improved patient outcomes, such as to control the symptom and progression of chronic illnesses.
Measuring Success
The program evaluation process will include various measures, such as relevant program structure, patient support for self-management, knowledge and self-efficacy, change in health-related behaviors, provider adherence to guidelines, improvement in disease control, level of satisfaction, and reduction in health care costs (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2018).
People Reached by the Program
The self-management support program is intended for various patient populations, such as those with asthma. The current evaluation involved 474 of the 1,303 member population initially engaged in the program (Johnson et al., 2005). Data was collected from 196 members of the population.
Program Impact
The impact of the program was evident following the evaluation process relating to the number of people that the program reached to improve self-management among individuals with chronic illnesses, such as asthma. The program was intended to serve but failed to reach, the entire population, 1,303 (Johnson et al., 2005). Thus, it failed to achieve the intended objective.
Point of Evaluation
The evaluation was part of an ongoing process to establish the efficacy of self-management support program for the management of chronic illnesses. The current evaluation was conducted after the implementation and use of the program aimed at supporting people with asthma.
Data
The data used to conduct the program evaluation was responses from patients who agreed to participate in the program evaluation through telephone interviews.
Information on Unintended Consequences
Information available on unintended consequences included biased samples of patients and challenges in getting eligible patients for the evaluation process (Mattke et al., 2006). Besides, it was difficult to verify the validity of the information provided by patients in the evaluation process.
Stakeholders
Various stakeholders were involved in the program evaluation, including patients with asthma, nurses involved in the implementation process, the self-management support program designers, and researchers who collected the data. The stakeholders who would benefit the most are patients with asthma due to the reduced cost of disease management and nurses due to the reduced burden of caring for patients.
Program’s Effectiveness
The program achieves the intended objective of improving self-management in patients with asthma, according to data from the interviews.
Recommendation
Yes, I would recommend implementing this program in place of work to help in the management of patients with asthma and other chronic illness. The burden of disease among such patients is considerably high, and it would help to have a program to ease it.
Nurse Advocates
Nurses can help to advocate for participation in evaluation by creating awareness among their patients about the importance of the involvement and getting their consent to collect data during their care interactions. The nurse works closely with patients and can engage in education and health promotion related to such programs to improve their health outcomes.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2018). Patient Self-Management Support Programs: An Evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/final-reports/ptmgmt/references.html#ref64
Johnson, A., Berg, G., Fleegler, E., & Sauerbrun, M. (2005). A matched-cohort study of selected clinical and utilization outcomes for an asthma care support program. Disease management, 8(3), 144-154.
Mattke, S., Bergamo, G., Balakrishnan, A., Martino, S., & Vakkur, N. (2006). Measuring and reporting the performance of disease management programs. Santa Monica, CA: RAND (WR-400).
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