What is Tool Kit?

          The Community Health Worker Evaluation Tool Kit (Tool Kit) was developed in response to the need for guidance in evaluation that was expressed loudly and clearly by those in the field during the preparation of the National Community Health Advisor Study (NCHAS) (1998).  At that time we heard from Community Health Workers (CHWs), other program staff, sponsoring agencies, funders, boards of directors, policy makers, evaluators and researchers from across many regions of the country; we hope this evaluation Tool Kit is of use to all these groups.  One important finding of the NCHAS was that many frontline CHW program staff lack evaluation skills and CHWs themselves are rarely engaged in developing evaluation plans, designing protocols and refining instruments.  This Tool Kit is designed with eye to changing that paradigm. We hope to encourage CHW involvement in evaluation design and implementation as we believe CHW participation in the evaluation of CHW services is critical to the success of evaluation efforts.

The Tool Kit was developed to be a practical and useful guide to program evaluation for CHWs and CHW programs.  It concentrates on results and focuses on developing an evaluation plan and choosing appropriate measurements and evaluation tools for a CHW program.  One of the main purposes is to make evaluation a simple and empowering experience for everyone. 

The Tool Kit was sponsored by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to build on the work of the NCHAS they also supported.  The project was administered by the University of Arizona’s Rural Health Office with support from the University’s Southwest Center for Community Health Promotion of the College of Public Health. 

Contents of the Tool Kit

The Tool Kit consists of the following 6 main sections. We've provided some samples of each section on this website.

1. Evaluation

Section one provides 21 evaluation principles to guide CHW program staff as they begin to work together to learn about evaluation and participate in the evaluation process.  

2. Using Logic Model to Bring Together Planning, Evaluation, & Action

Section two offers a logic model development guide to bring planning, evaluation and action together.   The basic components of a program logic model are linked casually from resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes to impact.  

3. Framework, Instruments, Forms and Directory

Section three contains the CHW evaluation framework, tools and evaluation forms that have been successfully used by CHW programs as well as a directory of programs whose tools are included.  In total there are 48 tools from 25 programs included in the Tool Kit. They are divided according to the CHW Evaluation Framework (NCHAS, 1998) among four levels including:  I) individuals and families, II) Community Health Workers, III) program performance, and IV) community and systems change.  Also in this section are two longer tools, a Cost-Benefit Analysis Primer and the River of Program Life Exercise; these were developed especially for the Tool Kit. 

4. Building Blocks: CHW Evaluation Case Studies

In Section four, eight diverse CHW programs, as case studies, are selected to better understand how program evaluation in CHW programs is conducted and how it influences the sustainability of CHW services. 

5. Grant-Writing Tips to Health You Sustain Your Community Health Worker Program

Section five offers general guidelines for writing proposals and reports and developing materials commonly found in grant proposals.

6. Bibliography, Resources and Glossary 

Section six includes a comprehensive bibliography, references, and resources for Community Health Worker training and evaluation as well as a glossary of evaluation terms.

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We hope you will enjoy the Tool Kit and that it will be useful to you and your colleagues.  Please take time to let us know what you think of the Tool Kit and this website when you finish your visit today.

If you already have a copy of the Tool Kit, please contact us for information on how to fill out a copy of our Users Survey on-line.  We will send you a complementary copy on CD Rom upon completion of the survey.

Thank you, 

The Tool Kit Team 

 

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