By now if you put together your SLP papers from Module 1 - 3, you have a program/intervention proposal to address a health behavior problem. Carefully read through your SLP papers from Modules 1 throu

Module 3 SLP BHE418

Trident University International

Elizabeth Davis

Module 3 SLP BHE418

Program General Goal/Objective and Specific objectives of the Program

The general goal of the program is to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy among the youth aged 13 to 19 years old. The learning objective of the program is to educate the youths aged 13 to 19 years old on the importance of avoiding sexual intercourse so as to avoid early pregnancies while the behavioral objective of the program is to come up with best behavioral strategies which will enable the youth aged 13 to 19 to abstain from sexual activities.

Work plan of reducing the rate of teen pregnancy

Evaluating effectiveness of the program

It is important for Program officers to collect data at the community level in order to evaluate and assess the outcomes and activities of the program. Evaluation is an essential activity which should be carried out (Posavac, 2015). A program requires regular checks and monitoring (Kettner et al, 2012). It will help them to know whether the program achieved its goals and objectives. There are various tools which will be used during evaluation. The tools used will be many so as to get variety of data and compare them. The evaluation tools which will be used include conducting surveys through telephone and face-to-face interviews. The members of the community will also be given to the members of the community. The questions asked will be those ones which relates to the goal and objectives of the program.

In order to determine the effectiveness of the program, the team members assess the performance of activities of the program (Bennett & Lumsdaine, 2013). They will be able to check whether the program is still on course in achieving its goal and objectives. Program officers will evaluate the overall goal of the program by determining the rate of decrease in the number of reported teen pregnancies. They will compare the number of reported teen pregnancies before and after the roll out of the program. The data on the number of reported teen pregnancies will be obtained from the various health care organizations and nursing homes. The data on the number of teen pregnancies will also be obtained from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFS) and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance.

The effectiveness of the program will also be evaluated by conducting surveys within the community. The community members will be given an opportunity to explain whether they had felt any positive impact since the start of the program. They will outline whether they have observed any decline in the rate of teen pregnancies. If most respondents highlight that they have observed a reduction in the rate of teen pregnancies, then it will be concluded that the program is still on track. Continuous evaluation of the program will be conducted in order to determine the adjustments in terms of schedule and resources required to fully implement the program up to its closure.

There various ways in which I will know if my program or intervention is effective. I will examine the timeline which was scheduled for the program and assess whether any objective of the program had been achieved by the half of the duration. For example if the program was scheduled to run for two continuous years, then I will assess in order to determine whether the program had achieved any objective within one year. If at least one objective has been achieved within the half of the scheduled time, then it is an indicator that the program is effective. The objective achieved may be that one of educating teens and carrying out awareness on the importance of avoiding sexual intercourse.

Another way of determining whether the program or intervention is effective is through analyzing data obtained after carrying out surveys. The program officers will make conclusion basing on the feedback from most of the respondents. If most of the respondents indicate that they have felt the positive impacts of the program then it will be an indication that the program is still effective and is set to achieve its goals and objectives. The information from health care institutions and nursing homes will also be used to determine whether the program is effective. If the data from these organizations indicate a decline in the rate of teen pregnancy then it will be concluded that the program is effective.

Conclusion

It is important for evaluation to be conducted in order to identify the weaknesses and strengths of the program or intervention. Identifying weaknesses and challenges encountered will enable the program officers to adjust timeline and other requirements of the project. As indicated above, evaluation is of great essence since it enables the program officers to determine whether the program is still on track in achieving its goal and objectives.

References

Bennett, C. A., & Lumsdaine, A. A. (Eds.). (2013). Evaluation and experiment: Some critical issues in assessing social programs. Elsevier.

Kettner, P. M., Moroney, R. M., & Martin, L. L. (2012). Designing and managing programs: An effectiveness-based approach: An effectiveness-based approach. Sage.

Posavac, E. J. (2015). Program evaluation: Methods and case studies. Routledge.