Health Program Evaluation - Essay Example

As the officials in charge of social programs happen to be humans and thus fallible, either deliberately or inadvertently, a strong requirement for accountability keeps them alert and keeps such programs, efficient and productive. As the state run health and social programs happen to be complex and intricate, so far as their scope, implementation, assessment and budgeting is concerned, an accurate and scientific system for the evaluation of such programs enables the state and the citizens in determining and enforcing accountability on the officials and professionals managing such vital programs, that are often so crucial, so far as the stability and progress in a welfare state is concerned.

"Program evaluations are systematic studies using scientific research methods to assess how well a program is working (Shipman, 2008, p.1). In the contemporary era of constrained budgets, when health has become a major political and public issue, it is imperative that the agencies managing the health and social programs are able to authenticate the expenses incurred by them in the light of the pragmatic and desirable outcome achieved by them. In that sense, evaluation facilitates the people and the state agencies with the much desired tool, which can be used to gauge as to what extent these programs contribute to the envisaged goals and helps them cross check and improve the performance of such programs on a regular basis.

Establishing accountability, so far as health and social programs are concerned becomes a mere exercise in words, unless it is backed by authentic and verifiable data. Accountability can be enforced only if it is supported by concrete evidence that brings it within the framework of legal and statutory remedies. Herein lies the relevance of evaluation. Many experts like to put forward the argument that government agencies have miserably failed, so far as the management of health programs is concerned and the privatization of these services is the only possible panacea.

Such individuals fail to see that entrusting such crucial programs in private hands can possibly further augment the scope for inefficiency, as the private firms work purely for profit motives and lack any welfare oriented guidelines. Infact, it simply does not matter who stands at the helm of affairs, whether it is some state official or a private firm. The point that deserves the tax payer's immediate attention is that what kind and quality of evaluation programs are being employed to analyze such programs It is pivotal that the evaluation programs being used to assess the health or social programs should be accurate enough to solicit a wide range