Improving the effectiveness of public health programs in New South Wales

Download files
Access & Terms of Use
open access
Copyright: Biggs, Janice
Altmetric
Abstract
Efforts to improve program management in public health have proliferated across New South Wales (NSW), Australia, yet we remain challenged about how to measure and demonstrate program effectiveness in achieving results. In the studies presented in this thesis, I apply a range of evaluation and quality improvement methods which have often been overlooked by traditional public health approaches. In Chapter 2, I describe the process of developing a state-wide research and evaluation strategy that was meaningful to the public health workforce. An important outcome from this work is the published paper: ‘Promoting the generation and effective use of population health research for NSW Health, 2011 – 2015’. Chapter 3 describes two studies of ‘Crunch&Sip®’, a state-wide school-based healthy eating and drinking program. Process mapping and analysis streamlined and improved the delivery of Crunch&Sip® while contribution analysis assessed the effectiveness of program theories and cause-effect relationships. These studies led to integrating the program into broader health promoting school programs. Two peer-reviewed publications are included in the chapter. In Chapter 4, I describe the design of a state-wide primary prevention nutrition program targeting junior community sports clubs. A needs assessment was conducted using qualitative interviews followed by a developmental evaluation to expose the social theories and postulated mechanisms of change. The results led to the development of a multi-component program. The related manuscript is included in the chapter. Chapter 5 focuses on the ‘NSW Healthy Children Initiative Equity Toolkit’. The toolkit was developed using a two–round Delphi survey across 18 health promotion teams, schools and childcare facilities as a quality improvement technique to reach consensus on proposed approaches to increase equity and access of programs. This led to an intervention to improve the planning of program delivery targeting identified population groups and approaches to sustaining programs. The report and toolkit are included in the chapter. Together, these research studies have enhanced program delivery to reduce the prevalence of obesity in NSW. The evaluation and quality improvement methods applied in this research have an important place in future public health program design and delivery.
Persistent link to this record
Link to Publisher Version
Link to Open Access Version
Additional Link
Author(s)
Biggs, Janice
Supervisor(s)
Lawrence, Glenda
Johnson, Julie
Creator(s)
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
Curator(s)
Designer(s)
Arranger(s)
Composer(s)
Recordist(s)
Conference Proceedings Editor(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Corporate/Industry Contributor(s)
Publication Year
2014
Resource Type
Thesis
Degree Type
PhD Doctorate
UNSW Faculty
Files
download public version.pdf 3.91 MB Adobe Portable Document Format
Related dataset(s)