Program Evaluation
Performance Measurement
ARCH has developed and curated a broad library of performance measurement resources to help respite programs, Lifespan Respite grantees and others engage in meaningful data collection and documentation of respite outcomes. The purposes are to ensure continuous quality improvement and to document the benefits of the respite care provided to caregivers, care recipients, families and communities. To read more and access these resources, measurement tools, and state examples, visit Performance Measurement.
Evaluating Program Outcomes
Evaluating and Reporting Outcomes: a Guide for Respite and Crisis Care Program Managers
Planned and crisis respite programs across the United States have field tested tools for measuring program outcomes. Under contract with ARCH, the tools were developed by Dr. Ray Kirk of the University of North Carolina, and revised by Casandra Firman ARCH Outcome Evaluation Specialist, and are published in the ARCH guidebook, Evaluating and Reporting Outcomes: a Guide for Respite and Crisis Care Program Managers. The need to demonstrate program outcomes is critical in today's climate of limited and more competitive funding.
The guide explains what outcomes are and shows why programs need to be able to demonstrate their outcomes. It also provides instructions and examples of how to identify, evaluate and report outcomes. The instruments in the guide include published scales that can be purchased, scales that can be photocopied, and instructions for creating customized scales. his guide will help local programs demonstrate and report on a variety of outcomes.
This 150-page guide is available for purchase from ARCH.
Phase 1 Field Test Results
The ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center launched an Outcome Evaluation Initiative in 1998 to develop instruments, in the form of surveys, for measuring the efficacy of planned and crisis respite programs. This report describes the field-testing process, outcomes of the field-testing, and subsequent recommendations for instrument revisions.
Phase 2 Field Test Results
The ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center launched an Outcome Evaluation Initiative in 1998 to develop instruments, in the form of surveys, for measuring the efficacy of planned and crisis respite programs. After being field tested and revised, the instruments were field tested again in 2002. Just over 1,000 caregivers from 43 sites participated in the second field test by responding to the surveys. The surveys asked questions designed to examine how respite affected such things as caregiver stress, health and family relationships. Phase II data indicate that respite has an overall therapeutic effect on caregivers and their families.
Following the Phase II testing, the instruments were revised based on feedback from participants and published in Evaluating and Reporting Outcomes: A Guide for Respite and Crisis Respite Program Managers (ARCH, 2nd ed.). See above.
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