Formative dialogue research - an appropriate strategy in community public health projects?

Abstract

Abstract Background Lately, there has been a call for knowledge-based community public health strategies and for evaluating local public health interventions. In addition to contributing to the public health knowledge base, it is underlined that the evaluations should be formative for ongoing local processes. The community professionals often lack evaluation competency, and a university course (10 ECTS) about process- and self-evaluation has been developed and facilitated for local public health workers. Vestfold County Council and University of South-Eastern Norway have collaborated to develop the course. The course has a particular focus on Formative Dialogue Research (FDR). FDR strategies may emphasize both project impact and processes, and local competences. The FDR approaches also contributes to the public health knowledge base (Rønningen 2010). Objective To examine and discuss whether FDR in combinations with an evaluation course, may be an appropriate strategy to meet the new expectations for community public health evaluations. Results Preliminary results indicate that FDR in combination with a evaluation course, may be an appropriate and desirable approach in community public health projects. The local public health professionals welcome the course. The focus has until now been on the development of the course and the cooperation and dialogues between the university and the county. Questionnaire and interview data collected in September 2019 will exemplify and nuance these preliminary results. Conclusions So far, the developing process indicate that FDR in combination with a course in self- and process evaluation, support FDR as an appropriate evaluation approach in community public health projects and processes. Key messages The local public health workers often lack competences in project evaluation. FDR in combination with a comprehensive course in process and self-evaluation seem appropriate evaluation approaches in community public health projects.