Proving the effectiveness of community programs in jeopardy: the role of formative evaluation

Today's health care programs are being scrutinized like never before and yet few clinicians and managers know how to show the value of programs without time-consuming outcomes research. This is especially true for new and innovative programs that are dependent on outside funding and may not have enough time to show an effect. However, even well established programs usually lack a clear operational model (clear aim, well defined target population, objectives, performance measures) and well-defined theory (plausible link between activities and desired outcomes). This article proposes a methodology to assure that programs have all the components needed to assure success.