Compendium of Local Evaluation Arrangements in Health Action Zones

<p>The National Evaluation of Health Action Zones began in January 1999, and is being conducted by a team of researchers<p><p>based at three universities and led by Professor Ken Judge at the University of Kent. Funding from the Department of<p><p>Health for the evaluation has been confirmed until December 2002. In addition to research activities, there are a number of<p><p>co-ordination and development tasks being undertaken by the team, in many cases in co-operation with the HAZ team at<p><p>the NHSE. One of the most central of these is linking with local evaluators. The national team has an important role to play<p><p>in supporting and co-ordinating local evaluation efforts in order to facilitate shared learning. This support and<p><p>co-ordination function is being achieved in a number of ways:

<p><p><li>Providing input at local and national HAZ events; including helping to plan and run regional Learning Conferences</li><p><p><p><li>Maintaining contact with local evaluators and taking a leadership role in developing an evaluation network</li><p><p><p><li>Supporting local evaluators in their efforts to integrate the Theory of Change approach into their evaluation strategies.</li><p><p><p><li>Developing a collection of local evaluation documents and materials which can be used as a resource by all HAZs</li></o>