16.3.1  Process evaluation

Process evaluation is concerned with assessing the process of your health education implementation and how the work takes place. It can be carried out throughout your activities and can guide you to make changes to maximise your effectiveness and efficiency. In process evaluation, you evaluate the progress of work performance — whether the planned activities are carried out efficiently, cost effectively and as scheduled. Process evaluation is conducted while health education activities are going on.

Examples of how to approach process evaluation in your health education work are given below. Using process evaluation, you can find out whether health education activities have been successfully carried out – or identify why they might have failed.

• What health education methods were used during learning activities? How acceptable were the methods?
• What health learning materials were used during learning activities (Figure 16.5)? How effective were the materials?
• What health issues were taught? How were they selected? Were they appropriate topics for health education?
• What resources were used in health education sessions? Think about Personnel, resources, material and financial and so on.

Figure 16.5  Process evaluation will help assess the learning materials that have been used in your health education work. (Photo: Carrie Teicher)