Past Evaluation

Insure GA, Community Health Works

The EPRC had a contract from Community Health Works to evaluate Insure GA, an initiative that sought to help Georgia’s uninsured and under insured gain affordable access to high quality health insurance coverage. Insure GA was funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to serve as a statewide Health Insurance Marketplace Navigator Organization. With this funding, Insure GA had navigators throughout the state to assist consumers to understand and enroll in plans through the Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Marketplace. The EPRC partnered with Community Health Works to evaluate how navigation affects consumers’ access to health care.

Mississippi Delta Health Collaborative, Mississippi State Department of Health

The EPRC served as the lead evaluator for the Mississippi Delta Health Collaborative (MDHC), a CDC-funded community-based initiative to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke through policy and environmental systems change. The Mississippi State Department of Health implemented the MDHC in collaboration with local community partners. The MDHC evaluation was guided by a conceptual framework that identified outcomes related to community mobilization, community capacity, and policy and environmental systems changes. Data were collected through review of progress reports; key informant interviews with grantees; a survey of Health Council members; and an organizational survey of worksites, churches, schools and community health centers involved with the initiative.

Together We Can: Georgia Colorectal Cancer Program, Georgia Department of Public Health

The EPRC had a contract with the Georgia Department of Public Health (GA DPH) to evaluate Together We Can: Georgia Colorectal Cancer Program, a statewide, CDC-funded project to promote colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. The GA DPH funded five Regional Cancer Coalitions of Georgia (RCCG) to implement the program in their respective regions. Intervention strategies include media campaigns, community education and outreach, capacity building and training, and patient navigation and colonoscopy provision. This evaluation assessed common elements shared across the statewide program and conducted two special evaluations of specific activities conducted by RCCGs: 1) an outcome evaluation exploring what proportion of participants at RCCG-hosted educational outreach events seek or obtain CRC screening within three months of attending an event, and 2) an evaluation of health care systems change activities to increase CRC screening in clinical sites targeted by two RCCGs.

Cobb Douglas Public Health, Community Transformation

Cobb Douglas Public Health contracted with the EPRC to evaluate their CDC-funded Community Transformation Grant (CTG). The Cobb CTG program promotes tobacco-free living, active living and healthy eating, quality clinical and other preventive services, social and emotional wellness, and healthy and safe physical environments. The EPRC worked with Cobb CTG program staff and partners to develop a set of project logic models, conduct a social network analysis survey of the community coalition that guides the CTG project, evaluate a Farm Fresh Market Program and conduct key informant interviews about tobacco control policies.

Community Cancer Screening Program™, Cancer Coalition of South Georgia

In 2011-2012 the EPRC conducted an outcome evaluation of the colorectal cancer (CRC) component of the Cancer Coalition’s Community Cancer Screening Program™ (CCSP). The CCSP uses professional health navigators to improve access to colonoscopy screening services for low-income, uninsured and underinsured community health center patients. Patient navigators address both system and individual patient barriers to screening.

As a result of this evaluation, the Cancer Coalition's navigation program received recognition from several national organizations. The Cancer Coalition was an Honorable Mention Recipient of the 2013 Community Partnership Award from Mutual of America Foundation. Upon learning of the Mutual of America award announcement, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality included a profile of the of the CCSP on its Innovations Exchange website, an online compendium of innovations and tools to improve quality and reduce disparities. Finally, the CDC featured the CCSP as a Community Guide success story.