Measuring the impact of becoming a health-promoting campus: Creating a comprehensive evaluation model

As more institutions adopt the Okanagan Charter (2015) to become health-promoting campuses, the question of how to effectively evaluate the impact of this work remains key. This article describes the development of an evaluation model designed to measure the collective impact of embedding holistic health into all aspects of campus culture.

Drawing from social cognitive, social ecological, and organizational change frameworks, the evaluation model provides a tiered, mixed-methods approach for assessing the impact of cross-sector health-promoting programs, policies, and campus culture change on student well-being.

We review the evaluation model with corresponding research questions, case examples, and key indicators that can be adopted at other institutions to provide a flexible, scalable, and sustainable approach to monitoring campus health and well-being over time.

This work responds to increasing calls to develop concrete frameworks to translate the principles of health-promoting campus work into equitable and sustainable action.