HealthyPlaces.org > Healthy
Places Framework > Outcomes
Outcomes
Outcomes are defined as changes in the behavior,
relationships, activities or actions of the people, groups,
and organizations with whom a program works directly (S. Earl,
F. Carden, & T. Smutylo, 2001). The pursuit of outcomes,
especially within commerce and industry, is nothing new.
But, since the mid 1980s outcomes and their measurement
have taken on a new urgency among human service and human science
professionals. In the late 1980's, national United Way began
to fund human service programs based on performance. This approach
sparked other organizations to consider what measurable results
should be expected (and demanded) from their investments.
Recently, federal systems such as the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), Department of Justice,
and Department of Education have led efforts to increase programs'
results
and to make them more effective by tracking outcomes. Those
three departments, among others, have established processes
to determine which community-based programs and practices produce
measurable results.
Fiscal responsibility is increasingly important
to legislators at all levels of government, to government agencies,
and to private foundations. Funders expect activities that
they support to produce results and to withstand intense scrutiny.
Some programs once considered exemplary have been unable to
demonstrate measurable results. Consequently, funding is being
redirected toward processes and practices that offer measurable
outcomes.
Our work as the Community Health Institute (CHI)
focuses on selected leading health indicators defined in Healthy
People 2010, the nation's prevention agenda. CHI helps
communities have a public health impact on healthy eating,
positive youth development, and physical activity.
CHI's Long Term Intended Outcomes
Consistent with priority health outcomes identified by U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and USDHHS, CHI focuses
on these things:
- Community policies and practices that create
healthy social, economic and physical environments
- Evidence-based life-span healthy eating and physical activity programs
- Evdence-based early child and youth positive social development programs
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