Skills and application for CVH Program Evaluation Gilles Paradis, Jane Farquharson, Elizabeth Hackbarth, Direction de la sante publique de Montreal-Centre, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Canada; Heart Health Nova Scotia, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; American Heart Association National Center, Dallas,TX

Evaluation of Cardiovascular Health Promotion Programs by Public Health Departments requires careful attention to the elaboration of objectives which are relevant for program planners, the use of methods which can provide practical answers for program improvement and which are simple and inexpensive. Evaluation involves three steps: 1) the design of a plan; 2) the collection and analysis of data; 3) the communication of results and recommendations to stakeholders. The involvement of community stakeholders and of the target population in the evaluation can generate community mobilisation and capacity. The evaluation can often use simple methods including pre, post designs with or without control groups. Data collection procedures must also be simple and can include awareness and participation surveys, satisfaction questionnaires, participation logs and direct observation. Recommendations and conclusions from the evaluation must be communicated in a clear and understandable fashion. For example, the Nova Scotia Heart Health program used participatory evaluation of partnership experiences which involved shared processes between communities and researchers, capacity building by transfer of skills and knowledge to the community and feed-back to skate-holders. Additional uses of evaluation results may include to support public policy, enhance community mobilisation, dissemination to peers and local health authorities and fund raising.