Learnings from the CAPTURE National Evaluation Needs Assessment
By: Dayna Albert and Marla Steinberg
What we did
In the spring and summer of 2010 over 200 health promotion and chronic disease prevention practitioners, managers and evaluators responded to an on-line survey on evaluation and evidence needs.
What we learned
Respondents were asked to rate the usefulness of seven types of real-world evidence. Real-world evidence was defined as the knowledge gained from planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions. As the chart below shows, at least 50% of respondents rated all types of real-world evidence as “very useful.” Most useful was information on what worked, what didn’t work, how challenges and barriers were addressed, and factors influencing intervention success.
Interestingly, differences emerged between practitioners in the early years of their careers (those with less than 5 years of experience) and those with more experience (more than 9 years of experience) in the perceived usefulness of some of the types of information:
- A larger proportion of the more experienced practitioners rated information on “how sustainability was addressed” and “the influence of local context on intervention design as “very useful.”
- A larger proportion of the beginning practitioners rated information on “key planning decisions” as “very useful”.
It would be interesting to speculate on why these differences emerged. They illustrate the complexity of the knowledge use process in showing that characteristics of the knowledge user influence the value placed on different types of information.[1]
What we will do
In order to provide practitioners with these seven types of “real-world evidence”, CAPTURE will enable practitioners to record and share reflections and learnings from their practice. Practitioners will be prompted to reflect on their practice in each stage of the program cycle including:
- Planning decisions and learnings
- Implementation decisions and learning
- Evaluation processes, decisions, and findings.
Our survey findings also revealed that creating a culture of sharing and reflection is not without its challenges. The next mini report will outline some of the barriers practitioners noted and show how CAPTURE will address them.
[1] Damschroder, L., Aron, D., Keith, R.E. et al. (2009). Fostering implementation of health services research findings into practice: A consolidated framework for advancing implementation science.Implementation Science, 7(4), 50.
