Sarah, thank you for taking the time to speak about your experience during the Winter 2020 CDC Evaluation Course (SBS 550). Let’s begin with an introduction of you and a general overview of the course.
Thanks for talking with me, Daniel. I am a master’s student in the Health and Social Behavior program. My interests are in maternal and child health and health communication. I am enjoying my program, and it has already given me a lot of opportunities – like SBS 550.
SBS 550 is a winter term course that provides training and practice in evaluating public health programs. The training is hosted and led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. For the course’s practice component, pairs of students work with a public health department to create an evaluation plan for one of their programs.
For the first week, you were on the CDC’s Atlanta campus. What was your biggest takeaway during this time?
The biggest takeaway from the training in Atlanta was that an evaluation is the product of a collaboration between the evaluators and the program leaders. It requires frequent communication about expectations, goals, program background and logistics, and many other topics.
The following week, you and your partner, Lauren Friedman, MPH-HSB ’20, traveled to Alaska. What was your project there?
My project was to create an evaluation plan for the Parents as Teachers program at the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). Parents as Teachers is an evidence-based home visiting program centered around early childhood development and parenting skills for families with children ages 0 to 5. Since Alaska has so many unique qualities, the Alaska DHSS wants to evaluate if the program is effective in the Alaskan context. It was invaluable to do this work with my project partner, Lauren Friedman.
What was your biggest challenge working in your project site?
The biggest challenge working at the project site was navigating bureaucratic roadblocks. Because the approval process couldn’t happen in time, my project partner and I were not able to meet with some of the stakeholders we wanted to while we were in Alaska. However, we were able to problem solve and find the information we needed to create a comprehensive evaluation plan.
Do you have any advice for future students participating in SBS 550?
My advice is to be open to taking in a lot of information. The training and practice introduce you to many new people, concepts, and skills. These are all important resources to create the evaluation plan for the course and develop longer-term expertise and connections.
– Interview by Daniel Choi
