Veteran Suicide Prevention Evaluation Program Toolkit
At the culmination of the six-year Veteran Suicide Prevention Evaluation demonstration project, the CDC Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are pleased to launch the Veteran Suicide Prevention through Effective Evaluation Practice: Veteran Suicide Prevention Program Evaluation Toolkit (VSPE Toolkit). This toolkit is to be used to develop and implement evaluation plans for public health programs, particularly for upstream suicide prevention strategies. The VSPE Toolkit is based on the CDC Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health and provides VSOs with usable content on formative and process program evaluation of upstream veteran suicide prevention programs. The toolkit also has an accompanying document called the VSPE Workbook, which includes worksheets relevant to each toolkit section and two VSO case example evaluation projects. It is recommended to use the toolkit sequentially to work through each section and related worksheet, but any toolkit component can be used as needed.
The purpose of the VSPE Program Evaluation Toolkit is to provide Veteran Serving Organizations (VSOs) with an understanding of program evaluation and relevant tools to design and implement formative and/or process evaluations for their veteran suicide prevention programs. Program evaluation provides data-driven decision-making to design and improve programs. Improving programs helps improve health outcomes. Program evaluation also helps track and share progress, a key component to sustaining the work. This toolkit focuses on two types of program evaluation:
- Formative evaluation: A type of evaluation conducted to inform program planning and adjustments.
- Process evaluation: A type of evaluation conducted to understand how a program is implemented and if it is happening as intended.
Formative and process evaluations are the building blocks for program design and improvements and serve as steppingstones to monitoring program outcomes and impacts later on. This toolkit focuses on building critical capacity to develop and monitor program processes from the outset, helping to set the program up for success.
How will this toolkit help me design a strong program evaluation?
The VSPE Toolkit is based on the CDC Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health. The toolkit provides VSOs with usable content on formative and process program evaluation of upstream veteran suicide prevention programs.
This toolkit has an accompanying document called the VSPE Workbook. It includes worksheets relevant to each toolkit section and two VSO case example evaluation projects. We recommend using the toolkit sequentially to work through each section and related worksheet, but you can use any toolkit component as needed.
This toolkit has not been validated for use in other populations or other types of programs, but the content and worksheets can be adapted for other uses.
What is included in the Veteran Suicide Prevention through Effective Evaluation Practice: Veteran Suicide Prevention Program Evaluation Toolkit?
The toolkit is intended to provide evaluation concepts and considerations for newcomers to evaluation. The toolkit includes:
- Educational content: Each section starts with educational content that describes evaluation concepts and considerations for evaluation in practice.
- Illustrative examples: Each section highlights examples throughout to illuminate key concepts and steps. These are pulled from full case example evaluations that can be found in the VSPE Workbook.
- Glossary: Key evaluation concepts and terms throughout each section are included in a Glossary. Glossary terms are underlined throughout the document.
The VSPE Workbook
The workbook is intended for use alongside the toolkit to support each step. The workbook includes:
- Worksheets: There is an accompanying worksheet for each section of the toolkit. Use these to apply evaluation concepts in practice.
- Full case example evaluation projects: Two full evaluation project examples, adapted from real VSO projects, are provided for user reference. The VSPE Toolkit includes illustrative examples from these throughout its sections, but full case examples can be found within the workbook. Examples include:
- The Olivetown for Vets case example of formative evaluation.
- The Team Reconnect case example of process evaluation.
Resources for Download
- Veteran Suicide Prevention Evaluation Program Evaluation Toolkit
- Veteran Suicide Prevention Program Evaluation Workbook (Download templates for worksheets below)
- Worksheet 1: Develop an Evaluation Engagement Plan
- Worksheet 2: Develop a Logic Model
- Worksheet 3: Describe the Program
- Worksheet 4: Focus the Evaluation
- Worksheet 5: Collect Evaluation Data
- Worksheet 6: Analyze Evaluation Data
- Worksheet 7: Develop and Implement an Evaluation Plan
- Worksheet 8: Justify Conclusions
- Worksheet 9: Develop a Communication and Dissemination Plan
- VSPE Evaluation Resource Guide
This program is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $2,500,000 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.