APPROACHES TO THE EVALUATION OF CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS OF HOME VISITING IN TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Program Evaluation
• Indigenous Health

Background:

• Evidence-based practices often use homogenous samples, limiting generalizability.
• Tribal Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs aim to address local needs and adapt evidence-based models.
• Assessing the impact of cultural adaptations in home visiting is a key priority for tribal communities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review evaluation approaches used by Tribal MIECHV grantees.
• To provide guidance on evaluating cultural adaptations in evidence-based home visiting programs.
• To share lessons learned from collaborative evaluation efforts between evaluators and tribal communities.

Main Methods:

• Review of evaluation approaches across Tribal MIECHV grantees.
• Presentation of three case examples detailing the collaboration between evaluators and tribal communities.
• Focus on articulating evaluation questions and selecting feasible designs.

Main Results:

• Varied evaluation approaches were utilized by grantees.
• Case examples illustrate successful collaboration in defining evaluation parameters.
• Feasible and appropriate evaluation designs were identified for culturally specific contexts.

Conclusions:

• Lessons learned have implications for evaluators working in diverse communities.
• The findings inform the evaluation of home visiting and other evidence-based practices in unique cultural settings.
• Emphasizes the importance of community-evaluator partnerships in culturally relevant program assessment.