Center for Community Health and Evaluation
The Center for Community Health and Evaluation (CCHE) designs and evaluates health-related programs and initiatives throughout the United States. Much of CCHE's experience comes from its evaluation of multi-site community-level interventions with an emphasis on implementation and outcomes. Formerly the evaluation team of the Group Health Community Foundation, CCHE is now part of the Group Health Research Institute.
CCHE specializes in matching evaluation strategies to the needs of stakeholders, including the community, program staff, clinicians, and policy-makers. Highly interdisciplinary, CCHE has designed health promotion interventions, evaluated both large and small health-related initiatives, organized national conferences, and published widely.
Recent CCHE work has focused on chronic disease prevention and assessment of sustained, broad-based community participation. Clients include foundations, local, state and federal government agencies, national voluntary organizations, universities, and community-based nonprofits.
CCHE News
CCHE is conducting a large scale three-year evaluation of Health Impact Assessments in the United States. In 2011, the Center for Community Health and Evaluation was asked by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to design and conduct a large scale, three-year evaluation to assess the results of Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) and to identify the elements that are critical for promoting success. Some factors associated with successful HIAs are known, such as timeliness of report and receptiveness of decision-makers to recommendations, but more research is needed. This evaluation also aims to advance the field of HIA by exploring the role and opportunities for philanthropy, academia, private industry, and government. This evaluation uses a retrospective, mixed-methods comparative case study design. A highly knowledgeable advisory committee provides valuable guidance on study design and conduct. The evaluation team is in regular contact with other HIA evaluation researchers domestically and internationally.
For more information on the RWJF/Pew Charitable Trusts Health Impact Project, please visit www.healthimpactproject.org.
In December, CCHE presented findings and recommendations to Kaiser Permanente and The California Endowment, about their investments in the California Convergence. This was the capstone of a project that sought to understand the value and impact of the California Convergence—a statewide policy advocacy network focused on obesity prevention.