Impact Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Impact Evaluation - Essay Example In social change, impact implies a long term effect on the society. Solorzano and Bank (2008, p.12), explain that the effect may be unintended, intended, negative or positive. A good impact evaluation must focus on the relevance of the intervention. To determine how relevant a program or project is, its objectives are assessed to determine if they are right or not. The SDSI strategy of Puntos de Encuentro’s main objective was to prevent more infection of HIV in Nicaragua. The intervention that the strategy employed in the case study is the use of the mass media and its communication programs to reach the community. This strategy is relevant to Puntos de Encuentro’s objective because it is through communication to the affected members of the society that that health education and general awareness to the society would be made possible. Deacon (2007) illustrates that in health programs, objectives such as the empowerment and promotion of societal rights on issues such as violence, reproduction, drug abuse and HIV are used to do an accurate impact evaluation of the effectiveness of such programs or projects. In addition, Bradshaw, Solorzano, and Bank (2006) emphasize that it is through the objectives of a project that its relevance is determined and therefore good impact evaluations must be able to assess whether a program for social change is relevant to the intended goal or not.