What is the EBPU’s evaluation support service?
The EBPU’s program support team helps agencies providing HIV services in Ontario to evaluate their work on an ongoing basis and as part of their regular practice.
How does evaluation work?
Evaluation involves more than simply recording information about services delivered by staff. Evaluation requires staff members and agencies to consider questions such as:
- What are the outcomes I’m expecting for a specific program?
- What do I need to know to deliver better services?
- How do I know whether my program or service has delivered its desired outcome?
- How do I collect the most relevant information about a program, and who has this information?
The EBPU’s evaluation support service can help agencies and staff members answer these questions.
How does evaluation help people living with HIV and/or Hepatitis C in Ontario?
Evaluation practices help ASOs determine the effectiveness and impact of their work. Evaluation helps an agency assess whether a program is achieving its intended outcome or reaching its intended audience. Evaluation can also help an agency understand how to improve programs and services to meet client needs.
Evaluation provides a formal, structured and systematic process to collect information about the activities and outcomes of programs and services and to gather feedback from the individuals who use these services. Ultimately, the data gathered during the evaluation process helps agencies meet their clients’ needs and provides better, evidence-informed services for people living with or at risk of HIV and/or Hepatitis C in Ontario.
How can the EBPU help my agency with evaluation?
The EBPU plays two roles in helping agencies evaluate their services. We:
- Provide access to an online library of sample tools that are intended as starting points. Each tool needs to be tailored to the specific context of service delivery within an organization. The EBPU can help agencies customize the sample tools to suit their purposes.
- Provide training and individualized support to agency staff so that they can evaluate their own programs and services. This support includes one-on-one consultation (to develop an evaluation plan), revision of any existing tools and data collection practices and the creation of new evaluation tools, if required.
To access EBPU evaluation services, please fill in a service request form and choose ‘Evaluation’ as the area of support that you are requesting.