Program Evaluation of Total Force Fitness Programs in the Military

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has charged the military's medical and research communities to join with the line community in rapidly and efficiently building a framework to promote and measure total force fitness (TFF). The need to identify the elements of promising TFF programs, and to evaluate whether and how they work, has taken on a new urgency, as we witness the heavy toll of combat exposure on our military members and families. We propose a rigorous methodology for conducting program evaluation, including the study of structure, process, and outcomes. The proposed model combines both quantitative and qualitative methods, to assess the effectiveness and replicability of holistic, multidimensional programs as they are implemented. We describe an additional model for the assessment of efficacy through group randomization trials. The result is a comprehensive model that can be used to assess and compare TFF programs.