Program Evaluation Issues - Essay Example

? Program Evaluation Introduction Program evaluation is a method of collecting, assessing, analyzing and using the information in improving, implementing, and answering questions or outcomes of a program. Community assessment needs are highly important in that it is easy to identify the resources available in the community. After assessing the needs of the community, it will be easy to handle them by being given first priority. First priority is one of the objectives, which should be implemented after assessing the needs of the community (Rogers, 1999, p. 88). For example to curb the problem of obesity and diabetes, community gardening should be given the first priority, as it is the immediate solution to the problem. Fruits and vegetables produced in the community gardens will assist in reducing the eating habits, which might lead to obesity and diabetes. This is very beneficial because giving priority to other programs like plantations will worsen the situation of the problems. When the problem is worsening, it will also increase the expenses like funds for treatment and caring of the patients. In addition, when the assessment has been completed, sponsors and donors will be invited to contribute in funding so that the community will get the required needs. The funding will include assisting the community in paying hospital bills for those affected by the problem of diabetes and obesity. Pertaining to the community gardening, sponsors and donors will assist in contributing capital for buying seeds and cultivating the land for planting fruits and vegetables (Brinkerhoff, 2010, p. 139). The donors and sponsors will have to commit themselves throughout the projects. The residents of the community will be educated through seminars on how they can practice planting of fruits and vegetables. All these will be the funds of the sponsors and donors. Through these funds, the community will be educated about the effects of the eating habits. This will assist the community in that they will react positively to the proposed recommendations of community gardening. Community needs assessment will assist how to allocate resources to various communities and projects in the community. After assessment, it will be known where in the community will require treatment and where need community gardening. More resources will be allocated to places where people have been affected most by the eating habit disorders of obesity and diabetes. This is because they need urgent treatment so that the effects do not spread more and become serious. Community gardening will be allocated funds, which are a bit lower than that of those who need treatment. This is because community gardening will be used as a preventive measure so that obesity and diabetes will not affect people in the future. To measure if the goals have been attained, statistics will be carried out in community clinics, health centers, and hospitals. This is because the patients who are affected by diabetes and obesity will seek treatment in these health facilities. The doctors will keep their treatment records, and they can be requested so that it will be known if the goals have been achieved. The method of direct interaction with community residents can be used to assess the progress in trying to achieve the goals. This method can be somehow difficult because the residents might not be willing to dispose their health status. The easiest way to collect data for evaluating the objectives is by arranging free diagnosis and treatment of patients affected by diabetes and obesity (Posavac & Carey, 2007, p. 128). This is because the patients will turn up in large numbers owing to their diagnosis without spending in the exercise. It will be a bit expensive, but the data collected will be 100%. This will produce the highest results of the assessment of the objectives and goals have been achieved. Another method is approaching the health facilities so that they can produce the records kept when treating the patients affected by the disorders. It is somehow difficult for patient attendance in the health facilities to display the patients' records. However, those collecting the data should disclose what information will be used for and its importance to the community and the nation at large. Some of the problems that can be faced in the process of evaluation include cooperation from the community residents. The residents might fail to cooperate when the data are being collected to assess the evaluation of the process. This is because the residents will fear to disclose their health status. It will be much difficult to assess the objectives and goals when this method of direct data collection is used. In addition, people in the community might resist the recommendations to practice community gardening and using vegetables and fruits. This will be a problem for both researchers and the community because the community will continue being affected by the disorders and researchers will not have accomplished their task of curbing the obesity and diabetes. Another problem arises when the donors and sponsors fail to cooperate in the assessment of the community and the release of funds. The evaluative measure is process activities and not outcomes. This is because the results have not been attained, as these are the procedures and recommendations on how the program will be evaluated. The budget I presented includes funds for evaluation, but they are not enough. The budget needs to be an increase the funds such that they will be enough to meet the task. The budget includes some funds for health education where the community will be tipped on the strategies for reducing the effects of obesity and diabetes (Schalock & Thornton, 2008, p. 243). Conclusion It is important to note that program evaluation should be performed in every activity carried out either in the community or nationally. This will assist in assessing whether the goals and objectives will have been achieved. For a successful evaluation, data should be collected in the area to be assessed if the goals and objectives have been achieved. After assessment, it will be determined if the program needs to be funded, and this is where the donors and sponsors will be invited to assess the programs and fund them. References Rogers, P. (1999) Program Evaluation: Forms and Approaches, United States, SAGE. Brinkerhoff, R. (2010) Program evaluation: a practitioner's guide for trainers and educators: sourcebook, United States, Kluwer-Nijhoff. Posavac, E. & Carey, R. (2007) Program evaluation: methods and case studies, United States, Pearson Prentice Hall. Schalock, R. & Thornton, C. (2008) Program Evaluation: A Field Guide for Administrators, United States Springer. 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