Successful programs set goals, monitor progress and use data to make improvements

Have you ever wanted to evaluate a program or project but didn’t know where to start? In an era of accountability it can be overwhelming to know how best to evaluate and demonstrate the value of your work.  Do you know if your service is delivering quality care? Are you reaching the intended clients and meeting their needs?  Have you been making the best use of your investments?  Like you, there are many individuals working in the area of population and public health who need up-to-date skills in sound monitoring and evaluation practices to answer these and other important questions. 

The Health Program Monitoring and Evaluation course, offered in partnership by Population Data BC and the University of Victoria's Division of Continuing Studies and Department of Geography serves this need.  The course allows researchers, graduate students and a wide range of interdisciplinary health professionals to broaden their understanding and application of monitoring and evaluation strategies with hands on project based experience.

Whether you are a student, point of care practitioner, a health administrator or policy analyst, a health care manager, or a senior executive, PHDA 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation will help you develop the competencies to bring evaluative thinking to your decision-making.  This practice-based course is of relevance to anyone wanting to improve their programs and demonstrate results through the doing, using or commissioning of evaluations.

Learners are provided with the tools and skills to develop a monitoring or evaluation plan for a program or service of their own choosing and receive expert coaching and feedback from an experienced evaluator. 

Dr. Marla Steinberg is a skilled evaluator and the instructor for the Health Program Monitoring and Evaluation (PHDA 06) course.  “I have been providing instructional and consulting support in the field of monitoring and evaluation for over 25 years and really enjoy working with the diverse group of students who take the PHDA 06 course”.  The fully online practice-based course provides an excellent opportunity for students to work with colleagues from different health fields and develop a tool kit of skills they can immediately use. Students apply their newly acquired skills to developing their own evaluation plans and gain further experience through a peer review process to support another learner to develop their evaluation plan. 

For Steinberg one of the highlights of the course is coaching students, from nurses and data analysts to researchers and program administrators apply their newly acquired skills within their own evaluation plan. Student projects have included the development of evaluation plans for flagship programs within their organizations, strategic plans, midwifery education programs, TB programs, HIV/AIDS programs, harm reduction programs, primary care programs, mental health programs, and patient safety programs.  “With new evaluation skills in hand, students have gone on to implement these evaluation plans within their organizations and provide valuable insights to support evidence-informed decision making within their organizations.  Whether individuals have little experience with evaluation or are looking for more practice-based skills and support to hone their current monitoring and evaluation work, this course has a lot to offer. ”

 

To learn more about what our students are saying about the PHDA 06 course and their program experience visit: https://www.popdata.bc.ca/etu/testimonials.

 

PHDA06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation is part of the Professional Specialization Certificate in Population Health Data Analysis (PHDA) program. It can be taken as part of the suite of certificate courses or as a stand-alone course.  For those interested in providing training for an entire team or organization, options for customizing the course for groups are available.

 

For more course information or to apply contact:

Maxine Reitsma, Program Coordinator,

UVic Continuing Studies

Phone: 250-721-8481 | phda@uvic.ca

• Posted March 3, 2017