Public health program evaluation best practices within the Canadian federal government [research project]

Abstract

Program evaluation findings are reported in evaluation reports as part of Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) funding requirements and are key information used to ensure accountability for planned results. This project critically appraises the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) eight program evaluation reports for their strengths and weaknesses - program evaluation planning, design and implementation, data collection and analysis, and reporting - for informing public health practice. First, these reports are appraised using a modified version of the review template obtained from the “Review of the Quality of Evaluations Across Departments and Agencies”, developed by the TBS. These findings are then reviewed in light of public health program evaluation guidelines for compliance with the standards of public health evidence, as well as the current TBS Evaluation Policy (2001) for compliance with the standards of performance reporting. The project concludes with recommendations to advance public health program evaluation planning, design and implementation, data collection and analysis, and reporting in the joint context of public health practice and the Canadian federal government accountability for performance.