FAQs

Health Systems Knowledge & Evaluation

What is evaluation?

Evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of information about the development, activities, characteristics, future planning and/or outcomes of an initiative (AHS, 2015).

Evaluation has become an integral part of program planning and research interventions when new initiatives/practices are started or existing ones need to be changed. Evaluation helps uncover valuable challenges and successes so that we can learn from the past and future planning can be evidence-informed.

Why is evaluation important?

Understanding outcomes and demonstrating impact of investment is vital to ensure that precious healthcare resources are used to their full potential. Evaluation plays a strategic role in generating evidence to determine value and support sound decision-making. Evaluation can also support innovations in their developmental phase through monitoring, testing and making recommendations for improvement and the appropriateness of further application to new environments.

What are the reasons for doing an evaluation?

There are four primary reasons for doing evaluations:

  • Advocacy: to demonstrate the benefits of initiatives and to make the case for policy and practice change.
  • Accountability: to show that investment has been used efficiently and effectively, and to hold funding stakeholders and program managers accountable.
  • Analysis: to understand how and why research is effective, feeding into decision-making based on a stronger evidence base.
  • Allocation: to determine future fund allocation, for maximum use of funding.

Reference: Measuring research, A guide to research evaluation frameworks and tools (Guthrie et al. 2013)

How can I learn more about health systems evaluation?

There are many available resources that can help you learn about evaluation and research. Some include:

How should I plan for evaluation?

Ideally, planning should occur at the beginning of a new initiative. There is good reason for planning early. First, planning early ensures that there is adequate time to be thoughtful about what to measure and that planning is inclusive of all stakeholders. For example, determining how to assess and capture impact and outcomes takes time. Second, data collection must be conducted in a manner that ensures good quality and valid and reliable evaluation results. Third, early planning will support efficient and successful evaluation process by balancing available resources against expectations.

What is evidence and why is it important?

Evidence is information derived from a range of sources (e.g., experience, evaluation, research, and context) that has been subjected to testing and is found to be credible. Evidence-informed decision-making is essential to ensuring continuous improvement across the healthcare system.

Reference: Scott C, Seidel J, Bowen S, Gall N. Integrated health systems and integrated knowledge: creating space for putting knowledge into action. Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.). 2009 Jan 1; 13:30-6.

What is knowledge sharing and why is it important?

Knowledge sharing is a way individuals and teams share professional experiences and ideas to enable organizational improvement, continuous learning, and evidence-informed decision-making. Knowledge may be explicit (i.e. coming from documents or procedures) or tacit (i.e. coming from experience). Knowledge sharing examples include:

  • discussing lessons learned at key milestones of a project
  • planning effective meetings, workshops, or communities of practice to facilitate connections
  • developing education, tools, and resources to build workforce capacity
  • conducting focus groups or interviews to gather individual or group experiences. 

What is a CoP?

A community of practice (CoP) is a “group of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis”. People attend CoPs to solve problems and develop skills by learning from the highly relevant experiences of others with the same professional interests. They talk about and learn from the experiences of others with the same professional interests. 

Reference: Wenger-Trayner.com What is a community of practice? Accessed December 16, 2019.

How do I Request HSKE Services?

HSKE professionals within the Provincial Clinical Excellence portfolio are available to AHS operations and other healthcare organizations outside of AHS to help you with your healthcare knowledge sharing and evaluation needs. View Health System Evaluation & Evidence for more information.