Data collection, analysis, interpretation and reporting of results are invaluable to our agency’s efforts.

Overview Planning and Evaluation staff support South LA Health Projects programs from the design phase through implementation, evaluation and reporting. Activities include collection and assessment of data, program planning, proposal development and dissemination of results.

Examples Activities can be as diverse as assessing the customer service provided to our WIC program participants, and tracking seasonal flu shot receipt among staff and among prenatal and postpartum WIC participants.

The Planning and Evaluation team works closely with our staff, community agencies, community coalitions, researchers and funders. They support data collection efforts generated from within the agency and evaluations associated with externally funded contracts as well as with state or national WIC Program mandates.

Identifying Needs at WIC Offices To plan programs and services in response to client needs, we periodically survey our WIC program participants and community members to assess specific health-related knowledge and behaviors. In addition, the team utilizes secondary data sources such as WIC program data, statistics published by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH), the UCLA Health Policy Institute/California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and many others.

Program Development Planning and Evaluation staff collaborate closely with each of our departments and programs to plan practice-based and evidence-based interventions in response to the needs of the communities we serve. The Planning and Evaluation team works closely with other staff to identify opportunities for new programs and to develop applications and proposals for funding to outside foundations and agencies.

Program Monitoring The team monitors program activities to ensure that interventions are being conducted as designed. Planning and Evaluation staff, for example, work closely with immunization program staff to measure how well immunization assessment and documentation are being performed. Quality assurance findings are shared with program managers and used to improve program quality.

Program Evaluation The team evaluates program interventions to determine the extent to which our efforts are making a difference, using a variety of strategies. They often measure changes in outcome indicators over time, such as breastfeeding initiation, receipt of a seasonal flu shot and receipt of a specific series of immunizations by the age of 24 months.

With our provider quality improvement intervention (Assessment, Feedback, Incentive and Exchange), for

example, the team assessed annual changes in medical office practices, and in the percentage of patients immunized.

The following are examples of evaluation results made available to our staff:

Prenatal Flu Immunization Tracking Results
Prenatal Flu Immunization Tracking Results
by Race and Ethnicity

Sharing Results Program evaluation findings are shared with program managers and staff, the community and attendees of local, state and national professional conferences. Results from WIC-based childhood and prenatal immunization tracking, for example, are reported back to staff on a regular basis. Presentations have been shared at various meetings and conferences, including the California REACH Coalition, the California Immunization Coalition, the National Immunization Conference and the American Public Health Association Conference.

Protection of Human Subjects South LA Health Projects is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of participants’ personal and health information. All program staff receive HIPAA training. Research projects that involve human subjects are reviewed, approved and monitored by the LA BioMed Institutional Review Board (IRB). The process of review, approval and monitoring applies to data collection and program evaluation activities funded by outside contracts.

The Planning and Evaluation staff collaborate with the IRB to ensure that individuals are informed of their rights as study participants.