Lynn Paul

Doing effective evaluations: a case study of family empowerment due to welfare reform

Abstract Effective evaluation of human service programs is rapidly becoming more critical as more and more stakeholders demand dependable documentation of a program’s impact. Comprehensive evaluation, done purposefully, improves services to our clientele and, ultimately, increases the chances a program will be sustained long-term. To meet this requirement for more rigorous program assessment, program planners and evaluators can benefit from theoretically sound tools that help them evaluate the impact of social service programming has for clients, organizations, states, and federally based programs. This manuscript presents an evaluation framework and applies it to a family empowerment program in Montana called Educating Families to Achieve Independence in Montana (EDUFAIM), developed in response to welfare reform. The framework is sufficiently broad in that it has applications within a variety of activities and settings.

Childhood obesity prevention in rural settings: background, rationale, and study design of ‘4-Health,’ a parent-only intervention

BackgroundChildhood obesity in rural communities is a serious but understudied problem. The current experiment aims to assess a wide range of obesity risk factors among rural youth and to offer an 8-month intervention program for parents to reduce obesity risk in their preteen child.Methods/DesignA two-group, repeated measures design is used to assess the effectiveness of the 4-Health intervention program. Assessments include anthropometric measures, child self-evaluations, parent self-evaluations, and parent evaluations of child. County Extension agents from 21 rural Montana counties recruit approximately 150 parent–child dyads and counties are semi-randomly assigned to the active intervention group (4-Health Educational Program) or a “best-practices” (Healthy Living Information) control group.DiscussionThis study will shed light on the effectiveness of this parent-only intervention strategy in reducing obesity risk factors among rural preteens. The 4-Health program is designed to provide information and skills development for busy rural parents that will increase healthy lifestyles of their preteen children and improve the parents’ ability to intervene effectively in the lives of their families during this critical developmental period.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01510587

Effects of parent-only childhood obesity prevention programs on BMIz and body image in rural preteens

This experiment compared body image (BI) and BMI changes resulting from two parent-only obesity prevention interventions aimed at 8-12 year olds. Parents in the experimental intervention attended ten face-to-face educational sessions, while parents in the minimal (control) intervention received similar mailed information. Parent-child dyads (N=150) were semi-randomly assigned to intervention groups. Children were assessed before, after, and 6 months following the interventions; children did not attend experimental intervention sessions. Child BI assessments included weight and size perception, weight management goals, body esteem, and appearance attitudes. Significant effects included small decreases in BMIz scores and overweight dissatisfaction, as well as improvements in aspects of body esteem and appearance attitudes. Some BI effects were gender-specific. Decreases in overweight dissatisfaction were greater following the experimental treatment. Neither treatment reduced body size misperception. Thus, parent-only obesity prevention interventions can reduce body weight and body image concerns among rural preteens.

Environmental Influences on Physical Activity among Rural Adults in Montana, United States: Views from Built Environment Audits, Resident Focus Groups, and Key Informant Interviews

Rural populations in the United States have lower physical activity levels and are at a higher risk of being overweight and suffering from obesity than their urban counterparts. This paper aimed to understand the environmental factors that influence physical activity among rural adults in Montana. Eight built environment audits, 15 resident focus groups, and 24 key informant interviews were conducted between August and December 2014. Themes were triangulated and summarized into five categories of environmental factors: built, social, organizational, policy, and natural environments. Although the existence of active living features was documented by environmental audits, residents and key informants agreed that additional indoor recreation facilities and more well-maintained and conveniently located options were needed. Residents and key informants also agreed on the importance of age-specific, well-promoted, and structured physical activity programs, offered in socially supportive environments, as facilitators to physical activity. Key informants, however, noted that funding constraints and limited political will were barriers to developing these opportunities. Since building new recreational facilities and structures to support active transportation pose resource challenges, especially for rural communities, our results suggest that enhancing existing features, making small improvements, and involving stakeholders in the city planning process would be more fruitful to build momentum towards larger changes.

Helping Families Toward the Goal of Self-Support: Montana's EDUFAIM Program

This article on a self-reliance education program describes the development, implementation, and elements of success of Educating Families to Achieve Independence in Montana (EDUFAIM) as a model for statewide integration of efforts to help families dependent on public assistance move toward a more self-supporting lifestyle. An overview of the EDUFAIM program, from its beginnings to implementation strategies, open the article, followed by a discussion of the evidence of EDUFAIMs success, including effective collaboration, effective educational materials and teaching strategies, effective evaluation strategies, and effective use of evaluation data. The article concludes with a discussion of program limitations.

Strong Hearts, Healthy Communities: A Community-Based Randomized Trial for Rural Women

The aim of this study was to evaluate a multilevel cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention program for rural women.