How Do We Know If We Are Making a Difference With Our Program or Community Initiative?

Abstract

In this article, the authors discuss issues related to knowing if health workers are making a difference with their community initiatives or programs being delivered in a community setting. Issues relating to the choice of evaluation questions, relevance of data sets used to answer those questions, and the rigor by which the answer can be evaluated—and the ability to generalize to other communities or populations—are explored. Finally, relevant resources to help you pursue these issues are provided.