By Dawn Vallet, HIA Project Manager
HIA is a dynamic website (funded by Alberta Health and Wellness) that includes
more than 500 Alberta-based health promotion and injury prevention programs and research projects;
4,600 resources;
multiple links to other sources;
a list of contacts of injury prevention and health promotion practitioners; and
many listservs (e-mail discussion groups) for networking.
Other free on-line services include news releases, information about events, feature articles, and theme pages on specialized topics such as evaluation and older adults. (The Calgary Injury Prevention Coalition and the Lakeland Injury Control Project are two other examples of organizational theme pages). HIA partners include the Alberta Centre for Active Living and the Alberta Centre for Injury Control & Research.
HIA connects program planners, practitioners, and researchers in developing and implementing programs, and is also a source of networking and partnership opportunities. These activities help practitioners, researchers, and decision-makers promote health in more efficient and effective ways.
To ensure that HIA meets its objectives, an on-line user survey was conducted from April 3, 2002, to June 28, 2002. The survey asked users for the following information:
how they found the site and how often they visited;
demographic information;
level of satisfaction with the site and HIA staff;
opinions about the effectiveness and benefits of the site.
The on-line survey was also sent to all relevant listservs (users could also access the survey on the website at www.health-in-action.org/). Results of the survey were written into an Evaluation Report.
Seventy-one per cent of practitioners stated that HIA was an effective resource that made a difference in their practice. HIA was also found to be well used province-wide by its intended target audience of health promotion and injury prevention practitioners. Users indicated that they benefited from HIA in the following ways:
76% enhanced their awareness of other initiatives;
62% increased their knowledge;
25% increased their networking;
21% improved their program design, implementation, or research.
Finally, two of the Evaluation Report’s recommendations that have since put into action are highlighted below:
developing an on-line tutorial on how to use the website (http://www.health-in-action.org/tutorial/main.shtml);
implementing Alberta-wide, free workshops for practitioners in the fields of health promotion and injury prevention.
For a copy of the full Evaluation Report please visit http://www.health-in-action.org/about/Evaluation2002.pdf.
For more information about Health in Action (HIA) and to book a workshop in your area (Alberta), please contact: Dawn Vallet, HIA Project Manager at phone: 780-465-1248 or e-mail: project.manager@health-in-action.org.
