Wanda Whitney|Gale A. Dutcher|Alla Keselman
Evaluation of health information outreach: theory, practice, and future direction
United States National Library of Medicine
objectiveconvincing evidence effectiveness health information outreach projects essential ensure continuity paper reviews current state health information outreach evaluation characterizes strengths weaknesses projects ability measure impact assesses enablers barriers projects success also relates projects characteristics evaluation practices paper makes recommendations strengthening evaluationmethodsupon conducting literature search authors identified thirtythree articles describing consumer health information outreach programs published 2000 2010 analyzed outreach projects respect goals characteristics evaluation methods measures reported outcomesresultsthe results uncovered great variation quality evaluation methods outcome measures reporting outcome measures always match project objectives quantitative measures employed pretests reported statistical significance institutional change measured structured way papers reported successful outcomes greater rigor measuring documenting outcomes would helpfulconclusionplanning outcome evaluation carefully conducting research mediators health information behavior strengthen ability identify best practices develop theoretical framework practical guidance health information outreach