While the language of evaluation can be confusing, there are generally considered to be three broad types of evaluations[1]Source: Adapted from Productivity Commission. 2019. Indigenous Evaluation Strategy, draft background paper, Table 2, and HM Treasury (UK). 2020. Magenta book: Central Government guidance on … Continue reading.
| Evaluation type | When carried out? | Purpose | Typical questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process evaluation (aka formative) | Early in the development or implementation of a policy or program | To understand the mechanisms at play, and to test assumptions. They can help improve a policy or program. | How is the policy or program delivered? Is it being delivered as intended? Is it appropriately targeted? How effective has implementation been so far? What are the strengths and weaknesses? Has the context influenced the delivery? What can be learned? |
| Impact evaluation (aka summative or outcome) | When the policy or program is mature | To judge the merit and impact of the policy or program. To learn lessons. To inform decisions about continuing, expanding, shrinking or stopping the policy or program. | What difference did the policy or program make? Has it achieved its objectives? Has it improved outcomes? How has it improved outcomes? Did it affect different groups differently? What can be learned? |
| Economic evaluation | At any time | To quantify the value of policies and programs. To inform decisions. | Was it worth it? To whom did the benefits accrue? To whom did the costs accrue? Is the policy or program the best use of resources? |
| To support ... | Activities that health services can provide directly or through partnerships |
|---|---|
| CONNECTION TO COUNTRY | Walking on Country |
| Learning the history of the place | |
| Hosting and attending cultural events | |
| Being on Country | |
| Facilitating conversations and Elders | |
| Learning methods of caring for Country | |
| Gathering resources from Country e.g. food, materials for making instruments | |
| Regenerating bushland and gardens | |
| Developing healing gardens and sensory gardens at sites such as health centres | |
| Using resources from local Country or processes from local people for making items e.g. weaving | |
| Spending time on Country and enjoying its benefits | |
| CONNECTION TO CULTURE | Understanding and acknowledging history of colonisation in local areas, processes truth-telling |
| Uncovering, recovering and discovering local cultures | |
| Opportunities to share cultures including Aboriginal and western cultures; intercultural dialogues | |
| Support people to be on Country | |
| Facilitate conversations with Elders | |
| Culturally informed assessment and cultural approach to symptoms | |
| Opportunities for transfer of knowledge between generations | |
| Leadership programs and youth leadership development, mentoring and role modelling to convey cultures, pass cultural on | |
| Support to engage with Elders about local governance, treaty-making meetings and discussions | |
| Attend cultural events | |
| CONNECTION TO FAMILY | Advocacy with government agencies and legal systems for access to children, with support for each of the family members |
| Aboriginal Family Wellbeing Program | |
| Access to local child and family support services | |
| Access to childcare | |
| Access to carer support | |
| Access to respite care | |
| Access to aged care | |
| Healing programs | |
| LinkUp and family history research | |
| Supporting children to visit family in prisons and have communication with family in prisons | |
| Open supports to family members | |
| Support for kinship care | |
| Support for processes of grieving | |
| Support through others’ death including dying on Country, having access to cultural support, support for funeral attendances and during sorry business | |
| Follow-up after sorry business | |
| Supporting days of remembrance and of local significance – events and leaders | |
| CONNECTION TO COMMUNITY | Supporting community leaders to self-determine events, processes, days of significance, responses to issues |
| Invest in community relationships – with Traditional Owners, other Elders, organisations – empowering community and supporting ownership of events, knowledges and processes | |
| Spend time at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community events | |
| Work with communities to develop partnerships, Terms of Reference, Memorandums of Understanding, coming together to prioritise, collaborate on solutions | |
| Support communities through sorry business, through process of dying and death, grieving and remembering | |
| Take people to funerals | |
| Celebrating community strengths and resources including natural resources, Elders, people and processes of significance | |
| Making and building projects processes of community stimulating empowerment and ownership | |
| Supporting mainstream community to understand and use anti-racism including It Stops With Me campaign | |
| Programs or activities for leadership training that includes group facilitation skills | |
| SPIRITUALITY/ANCESTORS | Yarning about how people experience spirituality, what people mean |
| Yarning about positive connections with other people including ancestors | |
| Learn about local cultures and ones’ own cultures and their spirituality and processes | |
| Participate in ceremony with Elders and/or in groups | |
| Facilitate cleansing ceremonies, house smoking, after discharge from hospital or prison | |
| Visiting sites of significance | |
| Remembering days of significance and doing nurturing activities on those | |
| Participating with others in events including to have a voice, have a say, express feelings | |
| Remembrance ceremonies e.g. of significant Elders, people who have passed | |
| Visiting and caring for gravesites, contributing to projects like headstone-making | |
| Using arts, music, dance to express, share and be with others | |
| Locally led healing programs | |
| PHYSICAL WELLBEING | Support health system navigation |
| Support engagement with ACCHO for regular health checks, immunisations, health promotion activities and follow-up | |
| Link with GP and specialist care | |
| Dental program | |
| Drug and alcohol harm reduction programs, health promotion programs e.g. Ocsober, Dry July, and residential rehabilitation | |
| Join group activities and challenges locally in the general community and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations | |
| Meditation, Dadirri | |
| Team sport, including football Knockouts, AFL Redi, #whereiskate | |
| Deadly Choices programs | |
| Using local resources like the beach, places to swim and walk as part of connecting to Country | |
| Joining others for boomerang and spear making and throwing | |
| MENTAL WELLBEING | Access to processes to identify triggers and healthy responses |
| System buffering | |
| Support mental health system navigation | |
| Support culturally-informed assessment and risk re-assessment | |
| Advocate for change of diagnosis where required | |
| Access to multi-modal therapies for complex trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder | |
| Addiction medicine and addiction support services including for drugs and alcohol, co-dependency, gambling, social media | |
| Use of culturally appropriate tools, for example, the Aboriginal Resilience and Recovery Questionnaire | |
| Support access to Elder-led, Traditional Custodian-led, and/or Aboriginal organisation-led healing and physical and spirituality programs | |
| EMOTIONAL WELLBEING | Processes and activities for identifying feelings and healthy responses |
| Culturally-informed assessment to understand emotional wellbeing | |
| Feedback to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who do emotional wellbeing assessment and programs | |
| Processes for expressing feelings e.g. arts, dance, music, theatre, writing | |
| Support access to Elder-led, Traditional Custodian-led, and/or Aboriginal organisation-led healing and physical and spirituality programs | |
| Peer support groups, gender-based groups, coming together with people with similar experiences | |
| Peer support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff | |
| Connection to physical activity and mental health programs |
References
| 1 | Source: Adapted from Productivity Commission. 2019. Indigenous Evaluation Strategy, draft background paper, Table 2, and HM Treasury (UK). 2020. Magenta book: Central Government guidance on evaluation, Table 2.2. |
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