Health Department Program Evaluation

SBS 550 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

The course will be held during the winter session. Students are matched with public health officials from up to 8 state or local health agencies across the country to develop program evaluation methodologies for specific public health issues selected by the program site. 

On Tuesday, January 5th, students will travel to their program sites. During the first three days of the course, an intensive synchronous course will be given on the basics of evaluation and the U.S. public health system. This will include lectures and group work to teach the components of evaluation methodology. On-site, in-person group work to plan the evaluation with the State and County Health Departments are part of the training.

During the second week of the course, students will continue working on-site with their programs and meet with stakeholders and program administrators to refine the evaluation methods for Title V or related Maternal Child Health Programs (MCH) programs. This evaluation plan will be used by the states to evaluate their active public health programs for the next 2-3 years.

Students will travel home on Friday, January 15^th. The final week of the course is remote, individual time to finalize evaluation plans, which are due on Friday, January 22^nd.

Enrollment Requirements
The MCH Center of Excellence hosts an information session in September, and there is an online application due in early- to mid-October. Interested students should visit the MCH website for further information and updates: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/mch-center-excellence/cdc-evaluation-course-sbs-550/