Program Operations Guidelines for STD Prevention: Program Evaluation

This gives a brief description of program evaluation and describes how evaluation can be used to help reach program goals and objectives. It does not include all methods, philosophies, or approaches to evaluation and touches on only a few aspects of STD prevention programs.

There are many reasons for program evaluation, some with emphasis on scientific methods to collect data, some with emphasis on the process of monitoring, and others with emphasis on the use of data to inform program managers and other key policy makers about how well a program is meeting its goals and objectives. CDC emphasizes evaluation as a way to improve and account for public health actions using methods that are useful, feasible, proper, and accurate. To accomplish this, CDC recommends that specific, systematic evaluations be carried out throughout the life span of a program, from program inception and planning to implementation, sustained delivery, and re-design.