HEALTHY NEIGHBORHOODS FUND LEARNING COLLABORATIVE MEETING

NYU School of Medicine Evaluation TeamNovember 11-12, 2015

Meet the NYU Evaluation Team

Olivia MartinezResearch Coordinator

Conducts evaluation activities

Paul TainshSenior Evaluator

Conducts process evaluation

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Carolyn BerryCo-Investigator

Conducts process evaluation

Sue KaplanCo-Investigator

Conducts process evaluation

Brian ElbelPrincipal Investigator

Leads evaluation team

Beth WeitzmanCo-Investigator

Conducts process evaluation

Courtney AbramsProject Manager

Manages evaluation project and team

Kamila KiszkoSr. Research Coordinator

Plans and coordinates baseline evaluation

Components of the Evaluation

•Assess the implementation of interventions at individual sites and the overall impact of the Healthy Neighborhoods initiative

•Behavioral changes•Process evaluation •Environmental changes

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Behavior Change Evaluation

•Planning stage

•Goal: to gather baseline data on behavior and perceptions, to allow us to go back later and assess change

•Current plan: collect baseline data in three communities, directing the data collection to the activities in each of the sites

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Behavior Change Evaluation

•We will field a baseline survey in select grant-funded and comparison communities measuring:•Participation in physical activity •Purchasing and consuming healthy foods •The level of knowledge and motivation regarding opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity locally, for themselves and their children•The local spaces and programs that residents use or know of

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Behavior Change Methods

•Survey of community residents•Available for all sites; if you would like to use it:•We will help you get up and running, provide technical assistance

•We will also install sensors to count people and activities in local parks this Spring

•Again, this is still a work in progress

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Goals of Process Evaluation

•To learn how organizations collaborate and partner to create healthier neighborhoods•To identify effective strategies and approaches that improve access to healthy food, improve the built environment and promote physical activity and active living•To better understand the organizational, programmatic and community challenges that healthy neighborhood efforts face

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Update on Process Evaluation

•Phone conversations with each of the sites

•Visits to Syracuse and Clinton County, with a trip to Niagara scheduled

•Visits to neighborhoods and attending meetings in NYC

•Collecting additional documents

•Scheduling NYC site visits and interviews

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Process Evaluation -- The Site Visit

•Tour the Neighborhood -- visit key locations and facilities •Interview key stakeholders, partners and community members•Observe program activities, attend meetings•Review documents and documentation•Discuss evaluation, metrics and technical assistance•Provide feedback and reflect on site visit

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Process Evaluation Highlights

•Seeing partnerships and collaboratives at work

•Hearing that engaging community residents often is critical for establishing local ownership so that efforts are sustainable

•Appreciating the variety of local factors that shape what “Healthy Neighborhoods” look like in different communities

•Observing the neighborhood spaces and the importance of place making strategies

•The Healthy Neighborhood Fund initiatives are part of a larger portfolio of place-based activities

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Environmental Change Questions

•Has the Healthy Neighborhoods Fund Initiative:1. Increased the availability of healthy, affordable

food? 2.Resulted in improvements to the built

environment, particularly in parks and open spaces?

3.Linked community residents to programs that support lifestyle changes? What programs exist and how many people participate?

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Technical Assistance for Evaluation

•Hands on assistance to sites & program teams:

•Help sites define program success and identify measurable progress and outcomes

• Identify existing data sources and help develop additional data collection instruments

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Next Steps

•November – December: Complete first round of site visits including interviews with key stakeholders, neighborhood tours and observations of program activities

•January – February: Follow-up phone calls and visits, collect environmental change data

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Q & A

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