Q. What is the purpose of site visit?
A. As you already know, the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) is interested in learning more about current practices in the nutrition, physical activity and obesity prevention field. DNPAO is accumulating evidence to support various obesity prevention strategies being implemented within the United States. The pre-evaluation assessment is one method that DNPAO is using to advance their understanding and identification of promising practices in this area. Through the pre-evaluation assessment, DNPAO will identify interventions ready for rigorous evaluation that may be worth adapting for widespread use by grantees and others and will highlight those programs’ achievements. Findings will be used to improve efforts to replicate nutrition and physical activity strategies for promoting health and preventing obesity. The pre-evaluation assessment will gather information pertaining to how desired policy, systems, and environmental changes are being made, the degree to which strategies have been fully implemented, and the plausibility that the intervention will produce the desired outcomes. It will also focus on challenges you have faced, things that have made implementation easier, and lessons you have learned along the way. We will also identify areas for technical assistance and options for further evaluation.
Q. Who conducts the site visits?
A. As mentioned in the letter and email you received, we will be conducting a site visit to your organization to speak with program staff, partners and other stakeholders about your intervention and experiences implementing it. ICF Macro is the contractor for the pre-evaluation assessment, so ICF Macro staff, or one of their consultants with expertise in the subject matter, will conduct these visits.
Q. How long is the site visit? And who will you interview?
A. Each site visit will last approximately 2 ½ days, during which we hope to speak with up to 12 of your program staff members and partners. Partners are unique to each site but may include representatives from: local and state health departments and other governmental agencies, health centers, schools, businesses, community and faith-based organizations, health care, and other community partners. We will work with you in the next weeks and months to identify the most appropriate individuals for us to speak with during our visit.
Q. How is a date determined for the site visit?
A. We will also work with you to identify a 2 ½ day period that will work well with your schedule and the schedules of your partners so that we can make these visits as convenient as possible. As the person coordinating the visit, please remember that you do NOT need to be present throughout the entire site visit. We will meet with each person once for an interview and then meet with a select number of staff on the last day of our visit. The person coordinating the site visit need only be present for their interview and on the last day of the site visit.
Q. Do all interviewees have to be on site for their site visit interview? Can site visitors travel to other locations or conduct interviews over the phone?
A. To lessen the burden on participants and to make it easier for interviews to be conducted with partners from different areas, we are able to conduct interviews over the phone or travel to other areas, if time and scheduling permits within the 2 ½ day visit.
Q. How long will each interview take?
A. We anticipate that the interviews with the lead administrator will last approximately 2 hours. All other interviews, with program staff, partners or other stakeholders, will last about one hour. We do understand how difficult it is to get a significant amount of time from key partners, so we are flexible to working within the constraints of their schedules and available time.
Q. Who conducts the interviews? And how will you record the interviews?
A. Each interview will be conducted by at least one lead interviewer and one support person. We will take written notes during the interviews. These notes will be destroyed upon completion of our reports. To protect your privacy, in the site visit report we will only note your name and role in the section where we list participants in the site visit. Also, no direct quotes or comments will be used in any of the reports, and information will be presented only in group form. No other individual identifiers will be reported.
Q. Will we receive any type of report based on the site visit?
A. At the completion of each visit, members of the ICF Macro team will develop a site visit summary report and a logic model for your organization’s use. This will be a relatively brief summary report of your efforts, and you will have an opportunity to review the summary and provide comments before it is finalized.
Site Visit Steps
We will work with you or your designated contact to schedule convenient dates for your site visit.
The site visit will occur over a 2½- day time period in the summer of 2012.
A team of two site visitors will travel to observe your program or policy in action.
The site visitors will conduct interviews with you and some of the other persons involved in your program or policy (such as staff who work with the initiative, partners, and community stakeholders who are engaged with the initiative).
At the end of the visit, the site visitors will meet with you and other staff you invite to offer technical assistance to enhance your capacity for your own evaluation efforts.
After the visit, the site visitors can conduct a follow-up call with you if you wish, to discuss the report or provide additional feedback.
You will receive the brief site visit report.
Requested Actions and Materials
To help prepare for your site visit, we request the following:
Use the enclosed calendar to designate your first, second, and third choices of consecutive, 2 ½-day time periods for the site visit. As you consider possible dates, please keep in mind that our first interview is with the lead administrator (program director, etc.) to orient ourselves with your program or policy. We anticipate this interview will last approximately 2 hours. All other interviews should be approximately 1 hour.
Return the calendar marked with your preferred dates. You can return the calendar to Kari Cruz by fax (404-321-3688) or by e-mail ([email protected]).
Please share a few background documents to help the site visitors better understand your program or policy before their visit. Examples are a proposal you may have written describing your program or policy for a funder; policies or legislation that you helped to develop or implement; marketing materials or a Web site you might have developed; information you share with participants; and any evaluation reports or news stories written that describe what you do. Most helpful will be materials that describe your main program or policy goals and how you accomplish them. We will contact you about the best way to share these documents with us.
After Site Visit Dates Have Been Selected
Begin planning the site visit by using the Suggested Interviewees form. This form is to determine in advance individuals who could be interviewed during the site visit. On the form you will identify people who represent the categories of program functions that we are interested in learning about. Because every program uses its own names, terms, and arrangements, the information on the form will help you to be clear about what types of persons we would like to talk with.
Please provide the names and affiliation as indicated for each of the categories listed on the form.
As the person coordinating the site visit, please also remember that you do NOT need to be present throughout the entire site visit. We will meet with each person once for an interview and then meet with a select number of staff or partners on the last day of our visit. The person coordinating the site visit need only be present for their interview and on the last day of the site visit.
If you have any questions about how to fill out the form, want to talk through your selections of people to interview, please contact Kari Cruz at 404-321-3211.
Once you have filled out this form, email it back to [email protected]
After Interviewees have been identified
Return the form to ICF Macro by e-mail for review. An ICF Macro representative will arrange a conference call with you and the assigned site visitors to review the list and to ensure that appropriate people have been identified for the interviews.
After the telephone review, make any needed revisions. An ICF Macro representative will provide you with instructions and a template known as the Site Visit Schedule Instructions and Template, to assist with confirming each of the selected persons to be interviewed and at what time and location.
Please feel free to contact Kari Cruz with any questions at 404-321-3211 or by e-mail at [email protected].
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | Kari Cruz |
| Last Modified By | arp5 |
| File Modified | 2011-08-19 |
| File Created | 2011-08-18 |