Building evaluation capacity for HIV prevention programs

HIV prevention programs, even those using science-based interventions, need to conduct evaluation to support the implementation and transfer of effective interventions, account for services, demonstrate effectiveness, and improve programs. The Program Evaluation Research Branch of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, assists health department grantees and other CDC grantees by providing evaluation guidance, technical assistance (TA), and training in order to build their HIV prevention program evaluation capacity. Together, these evaluation resources assist grantees with overall implementation of evaluation and identify specific types of evaluation appropriate to each stage of intervention development. This paper describes the evaluation developmental process for different types of evaluation activities, provides a framework for building evaluation capacity, discusses the evaluation resources provided by CDC and gives examples of how evaluation TA and training support the overall technology transfer goals.