PHCA3506 Evaluation in Primary Health Care

This topic is only available to third year students in a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree.

This topic aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to plan and undertake an evaluation of primary health care programs. Evaluation in Primary Health Care provides students with the opportunity to develop their understanding of key evaluation concepts and issues and expand their knowledge of evaluation approaches and methods. In particular, this topic will focus on the key complexities inherent in the evaluation of programs based on primary health care and health promotion principles. Students will be involved in critically appraising evaluations and will design a primary health care evaluation relevant to their area of work or interest. This topic also assists students to identify and compile a range of practical evaluation resources for use in their future work.

This topic aims to:

• Provide students with an opportunity to develop their capacity to plan and undertake evaluations of primary health care initiatives
• Enhance students' theoretical and practical understanding of key evaluation issues relevant to the practice of primary health care

1. Develop an understanding of the key integrated elements in program planning, implementation, evaluation and dissemination
2. Develop an understanding of a range of methods applied to collect suitable evaluation indicators, their strength and limitations
3. Design a program logic and evaluation plan for a primary health care initiative of your choice
4. Provide a convincing rationale for the evaluation plan you have developed including justifying any evaluation decisions, methods selected for data collection and ethical considerations
5. Critically analyse and contrast a range of primary health care program evaluation approaches highlighting their strengths and weaknesses
6. Critique the evaluation plan you have developed by applying two alternative evaluation approaches to the primary health care program you have chosen