MIH 521 Health Program Evaluation (Mod 2 SLP) Essay

MIH 521 Health Program Evaluation (Mod 2 SLP) - Essay Example In this case the evaluation would be done of FitKids which is a program to keep kids healthier through activity. If we do not evaluate the programs we set up, we do not know how well they are doing and what their results are (attc-ne.org). The plan to evaluate according to Harvard Medical School plans(2009) includes the following things. Identify with precision what it is that the specific program has as a purpose and in the case of FitKids, the reason is to have healthier more active kids which prevents chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and orthopedic diseases. It is important to know whether the program has the potential to meet its goals and the terminology that is used in the evaluation study must be explained up front to assure a thorough understanding of the results. Threats to validity are always a problem in any kind of research but it is particularly so in an evaluation study. There are according to the Harvard School plan (2009) seven threats that must be watched for. Those are a history of events happening during the study that were not planned to occur. There is a maturation problem that can occur when the passage of time changes the study and one does not realize or plan for that as well as the fact that a testing issue could happen. Testing issues usually happen when there is bias in the choice of controls though, which is not likely to happen in this particular evaluation.