Evaluation helps shape community outreach
Distribute forms early to increase response
What do you do when you create a community outreach program and nobody comes? Assume the topic was not what consumers are interested in and move on to other efforts?
Not necessarily, says Valerie Eldred, RN, community education coordinator for Mid-Florida Medical Services in Winter Haven. When attendance is low, it could be the weather, the time of day, or location. Also, there may be a large community event that conflicts with the program, she explains.
That's why Eldred has an employee enter data on each class into the computer. Data include attendance and information gathered from evaluation sheets filled out by class participants. She generates a monthly report complete with graphs from the accumulated information. In this way, she can evaluate community outreach over time, rather than make a snap judgment.
Evaluation sheets can help coordinators determine if class content is appropriate and delivered well, if the topic is on target, and if the location and time is convenient for participants. The surveys are also a good method for assessing demographics. To find out if you are reaching your target patient group, ask specific questions on the evaluation, advises Eldred. She has asked for salary ranges, ethnicity, and job categories of attendees. (See examples of evaluation forms in this month's special insert.)
Of course, evaluations are useless if no one fills them out, says Eldred. That's why it is important to pass out the forms at the beginning of class and emphasize the importance of filling them out.
A registration table is set up for each class. When people check in, they are given the evaluation form and asked to complete it at the end of the session. The person who introduces the speaker reminds participants to fill out the form and explains that it will help the organizers create programs that benefit the audience. People are reminded again at the end of the class, and someone is stationed at the door to collect the forms.
"This method has been successful. We get better than 50% of the forms returned," says Eldred.
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