The Evaluation Plan for Diabetes Program

The evaluation of the program mainly focuses on the effectiveness and the efficiency of the program's implementation by involving the decision makers at various levels. Evaluation is important in that it ensures proper investment and the utilization of the resources and that the program influences the targeted population effectively. In other words, evaluation seeks to account for public health actions and systematic improvement of the procedures to achieve feasible, useful, accurate, and ethical practices.

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The first step in the evaluation process is to engage the stakeholders, which serves to ensure that the program encompasses all the perspectives envisioned during the inception phase. Involving or engaging the stakeholders is important because it ensures the inclusion of the significant program goals, outcomes, and operations. Additionally, the inclusion of the stakeholders makes the evaluation meaningful and the results obtained help in determining the continuity of the program (Powers et al., 2017). The stakeholders to include are the primary users of the information, program operations, and the people served by the program. The identification of the stakeholders is quite important because it ensures or addresses the relevant perspectives of the entire program. Towards this end, the main stakeholders involved in the evaluation process are he DM care manager and the program manager. It is worth noting that the identified individuals are integral to the evaluation. The initial meeting involves the DCM, the HS program manager, and the community members with diabetes that the program serves. The Director of the Care Partnership will then use the information obtained during the evaluation to make decisions that affect the program at various levels of implementation. There is need to constantly inform the primary user of the program and take into consideration to shape up the evaluation process.

The second step is to describe the program. Formulating a comprehensive description of the program is crucial to the entire framework of evaluation in that it serves to give the details of the program. In this step, the aim is to ensure that the evaluation clearly describes the program so that the beneficiaries or the readers may have the opportunity to decide if there is a link between the activities undertaken and the evaluation outcomes. Proper evaluation requires the detailed description of the program to ensure inclusion of the important pillars of the program. The most important aspects of the program that require description include but not limited to logical model, stage of development, need, activities, context, expected effects, and the resources required for implementation. Defining the activities of the program dictates that the evaluators define or display the various activities, actions, and strategies in a logical sequence. The success of the program solely lies on the program outcomes, which define it goals and objectives. The evaluation should include various stages of the program that include the planning, the implementation, and finally the effects stage. Assessment of the different stages accords the users and the implementers the opportunity to understand the progress and the subsequent maturity of the program. Formulation of the right evaluation strategy enables the stakeholders, especially the implementers, to have a program that is sensitive to social, political, and economic influences.

The next step is to focus the design of the evaluation, which means that there is need to create a proper a proper evaluation plan that communicates to the intended users. The stated step introduces the users thus increasing the chances of the utility, feasibility, accuracy, and the application of ethical practice in all phases of the program. It is imperative to clearly define the evaluation of the program before engaging in data collection. The design of the program focuses on purpose, questions, users, methods, and the agreements made in the course of the execution of the program. The clarity of the evaluation purpose is necessary since it permits the decision makers to engage in proper decision making during the evaluation plan. The users form fraction of the stakeholders that will receive the results of the evaluation. There is need for the evaluation questions to reflect the stakeholders' intentions to attain an effective program. On the other hand, the agreements form part of the evaluation program that serve to outline the responsibilities and the roles of the stakeholders. Moreover, the agreements serve to detail the amount of resources required at each stage of the program. It is worth noting that the methods of data collection stem from opinions from different sources majorly scientific research that include behavioral, social, and health sciences.

Generally, the main objective of the evaluation program or process is to determine if the program is achieving the intended purpose or aims. The outcomes are normally on the health of the community and the resulting economic outcomes of interest. It is important for the stakeholders to understand the impact of the investment made and the effectiveness of the human resource in improving the lives of the community members with diabetes. To understand the program fully, the evaluation needs to delve into the impact of the program on the economic outcomes and the members of the given community with diabetes. The main users of the evolution information are the director of the care program (primary user) and the program manager. For the primary user, the objective is to understand the efficiency or the effectiveness of the program through proper allocation of both human and financial program. Additionally, the interest of the primary use is in the possibility of hiring the extra DCM if the evaluation identifies the need for such. Finally, the information obtained in the course of evaluation is essential for the primary user in that is shows existing and potential clients of the effectiveness of the program.

Collection of Data for the Evaluation Program

Gathering data or collecting data is the fourth step in the framework of program evaluation. Data gathering has the propensity of increasing the probability that the stakeholders will find the evaluation results more credible and certainly quite valuable in improving the outcomes. Gathering credible evidence enables the stakeholders to make decisions supported by string data and thereby allocate program resources appropriately. Evaluation credibility depends on five main aspects of gathering data that include sources, quantity, quality, logistics, and indicators. The indicators refer to the appropriate measures of the different attributes of the program that have credible bearing on the effectiveness of the program. On the other hand, sources are essentially the origin or the location of the program (Beck et al., 2017). It is imperative to use multiple sources and indicators to improve the quality of evaluation. As stated earlier, quality is the degree of reliability of the data used in the evaluation process of the program.

The main source of the data in this evaluation case is the EMR (KPGA), which refers to the integrated medical system that permits the smooth communication and the coordination of the health care providers and the health care plan. The EMR system allows easy accessibility and the subsequent updating of data in real-time. It is difficult to determine the volume of data required at the beginning of the evaluation because the selection of the intervention and the control group occurs after meeting a specific criterion. Finally, the logistics require a knowledgeable or experienced statistician will be responsible for pulling the intervention and control groups in accordance with the outlined specifications.

The Possible Issues during the Collection of Data

During the evaluation, particularly during the data collection design or the analysis of the information, there is bound to be biases that are difficult to eliminate. There is need to recognize the fact that biases exist and formulate the necessary steps to deal with them effectively. All sorts of study designs have biases during the selection of the data or the areas to study. Exclusion and selection biases are quite prevalent in the collection of data during evaluation, and risk the validity of the entire evaluation program. The intention is normally to have a control group and an intervention group that have close relation, not so different. It is necessary to have take steps to minimize any effects of bias, particularly in a case when the control and the intervention groups are different. The selection bias usually occurs when patients self-select to participate in the evaluation program.

For various reasons, many people have higher degrees of motivation to participate in either the intervention or the control groups, thereby resulting in a biased impact for the program. Therefore, choosing controls or cases with similar or same levels of willingness to accept change or to change is crucial to the accuracy of the data for evaluation. Selection of the different groups of should in such a manner that both are willing to change their behaviors to ensure that they improve their health. A credible challenge also arises when the evaluation program has a significant impact effect on a patient's economic or clinical outcomes, especially on the regression of the mean phenomenon. Notably, regression to the mean refers to the statistical property that borders on the extreme based on time. For example, the healthier individuals will get sick while the sickest patients will tend to get better will get better. Increasing or decreasing the timeframe for the evaluation or the data collection period will, therefore, affects the regression mean.

Communication of the Results to the Administrators and the Stakeholders

The other necessary step is to ensure the dissemination and the usage of conclusions and findings. As mentioned earlier, program evaluation requires investment in material resources and time, meaning that it is important to put the realized result into good use. Communicating the results to the stakeholder and the administrators has certain elements that include preparation, design, feedback, dissemination, and follow-up. It is essential; to discuss the design of the evaluation during the inception or the initial stages of the evaluation. The design normally includes questions, the methods, and the processes (Kramer et al. 2015). On the other hand, preparation encompasses determining the best possible way to communicate the results, particularly the negative aspects of the report. Feedback refers to the process of communicating continuously with the administrators and the stakeholders during the process of evaluation. The next step is follow-up, which entails provision of support, usually emotional and technical, to the users to make sure that the lessons obtained during the evaluation process are applied in improving the program. Finally, dissemination ensures that the evaluator reports the findings and the evaluation procedures to the appropriate administrators and the stakeholders in an honest, unbiased manner. The evaluator needs to take extra caution or care on how to report the negative or the positive aspects of the evaluation to the relevant individuals. Additionally, maintaining the program's success or improvement requires deep levels of responsibility from the evaluator that involves constant follow-ups.