Abstract

This 108 page (English) document is based on a study which was undertaken by the Alberta Consortium for Health Promotion Research and Education (ACHPRE) in collaboration with an Alberta Health project team. This multi-disciplinary research team already had extensive experience in health promotion and practice. The study was undertaken in the context of the history and recent developments in population health promotion.

Conclusions from the Study:

• Evidence indicates that health promotion practices have been effective in contributing towards the goal of improving the health of Albertans.
• Alberta has the expertise to deliver health promotion strategies and to take action on factors influencing health, as defined in key international, national, and provincial documents.
• Health promotion programs have achieved positive outcomes with respect to many of the determinants of health affecting Alberta.
• Best practices in health promotion heave a potential for building the capacity to promote health in individuals, organizations, and communities in Alberta.
• Health promotion work in Alberta needs more evaluations that are scientifically rigorous.
• Evaluations of health promotion work in Alberta need to be broadened to focus not only on short-term outcomes but also on long-term outcomes and the impact on health status.
• Adequate resources must be allocated to evaluation, and strategic decisions should be made so that evaluation dollars are invested where knowledge is most needed.
• There is an urgent need for integrated, coordinated health information system in Alberta to support the evaluation of health promotion effectiveness.
• In order to obtain transferable knowledge, evaluators need to have consistency in standards for reporting evaluations and to include a clear description of the program and of evaluation methods and findings consistent with the data. This requires moving beyond offering a template for evaluations to encouraging standards.
• Healthy public policy aimed at achieving equity can positively address those determinants of health not addressed in the projects collected for this study. The absence of attention to gender is a potentially serious gap, as gender influences so many aspects of health and health promotion practice and research.
• There is a pressing need in Alberta for intersectorial collaboration, so that each sector is supportive of the health promotion programs and expertise of the others.
• The Health Promotion Framework is a multipurpose tool that can be used for analyzing a health promotion project proposal, an evaluation proposal, a completed project, or an evaluation report, to assess an overall strategy and for guiding policy development.

The goal of the study was to assess the effectiveness of health promotion initiatives in improving the health status of Albertans, thereby providing evidence and direction for senior health system decision makers and other interested stakeholders.

This project brings together evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of health promotion practices and identifies where strengths and gaps exist. This project also responds to the practical need of Albertans for evidence to inform decision making on health policy development, allocation of resources, and program design and delivery.

Funders can use this framework as a tool to encourage health promotion practitioners to write proposals that incorporate the process of program evaluation from the start. Applicants for health promotion funds can use the framework to guide them in proposal development. Organizations that evaluate their health promotion programs should be required to demonstrate the ability to carry out both the program and the evaluation.

This document has been published by Alberta Health And Wellness and is available from them as "Health Promotion Effectiveness in Alberta: Providing the Tools for Healthy Albertans" August 1999 and can be accessed through:
The Population Health Strategies Branch,
Alberta Health and Wellness,
PO Box 1360
10025 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton AB T5J 2N3
Phone (780) 415 - 2754 Fax (780) 422-5474
ISBN 0-7785-0212-0

      

Last updated: December 12, 2000