Why Is Program Evaluation Important

Program evaluation is a way of monitoring the processes and outcomes of a strategy, intervention, or plan. In public health, program evaluation is essential for many reasons, but from a broad perspective it enables the managers and staff the ability to guarantee the efficiency and ethical proficiency of a public health program. It is for this reason that evaluation methods are not only advocated but also enforced. In order to understand how and why this is so, one must look at some of the most important reasons why evaluation is considered such an essential task when it comes to executing acceptable public health practices. Among the reasons why program evaluation is such an important undertaking, one of the most commonly used is that the process can help track the progress of a …show more content…
This is one of the most important aspects of program evaluation because this is an essential criterion that corroborates whether or not the findings of a program are valid. Changes are not an uncommon occurrence when it comes to public health programs. Sometimes programs do not work as planned for multiple reasons and changes need to be made. However, the amount of changes made should not compromise the plan that was set forth before the program began. For example, if a staff member needs to be replaced, due to personal reasons or ineptitude; replacing this person most likely won’t affect the validity of the program because no changes were made to the original plans. On the other hand, if a change is made to the program itself for one reason or another, there is a high possibility that the program’s validity will be compromised. This is mostly because the program lends itself to be affected by external factors that might not be taken into account when the change is made, therefore affecting the outcome (whether for better or for worse) and possibly rendering the results