Wednesday, 20 November 2002 - 8:30 AM
Westin St. Francis Elizabethan A - D (0)

EVAL-144. Practical Applications To Meet the Challenges of Evaluation

Frances A. Stillman, EdD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Institute for Global Tobacco Control, fstillma@jhsph.edu, Betsy A. Gilpin, University of California, San Diego, Cancer Center, bgilpin@ucsd.edu, Ron Borland, PhD, The Cancer Council Victoria, Cancer Control Research Institute, Ron.Borland@cancervic.org.au, David M. Murray, PhD, University of Memphis, Department of Psychology, d.murray@mail.psyc.memphis.edu, David T. Levy, PhD, University of Maryland, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, LEVY@pire.org, Brion J. Fox, JD, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, bjf@ctri.medicine.wisc.edu.

Learning Objectives: Recognize the challenges associated with evaluating complex tobacco control interventions at the state, national and international levels. Describe new approaches to tobacco control evaluation that are being developed in order to avoid past evaluation weaknesses. Explain the relevance of evaluation theory to tobacco control project evaluation.

Abstract: All states now have state-level tobacco-control programs, and tobacco-control funding at the national, state, and local level is increasing. The evaluation of tobacco control interventions is complex and the complexities intensify as the scope and elements of tobacco control programs increase. Evaluators are charged with the task of determining the effect of interventions in terms of magnitude of change, the relative contribution of program components, and the relative impact for different populations. Currently unsuitable measures and methods are used to assess interventions and important data are lacking and sources of data are limited. New evaluation approaches that will be informative at global, national, state, and local levels are required. In this workshop we will provide presentations that will range from theory to practice providing participants with an understanding of the challenges associated with determining effectiveness of comprehensive tobacco control programs. The presentations will address the following topics: 1) How to assess jurisdictional readiness to change; 2) How to use hierarchical and multi-level modeling approaches to reduce misleading and inaccurate estimations; 3) How to use simulation models to predict long-term effects; 4) How to assess the tobacco industries influence; and 5) How to develop new indices to assess state-level outcomes. The session will provide time for discussion between presenters and participants focused on specific suggestions for improving evaluation efforts.

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