Evaluation logic in practice: Findings from two empirical investigations of American Evaluation Association members.

Surveys of two independent random samples of American Evaluation Association (AEA) members were conducted to investigate application of the logic of evaluation in their evaluation practice. This logic consists of four parts: (1) establish criteria, (2) set standards, (3) measure performance on criteria and compare to standards, and (4) synthesize into a value judgment. Nearly three-fourths (71.

Social capital, substance use disorder and depression among youths.

Background: Social capital - the network of social connections that exists among people - is known to be related to depression and substance use among adults. However, little is known about these relationships among adolescents, even though this age group is vulnerable due to factors of peer pressure, family, neighborhood, and maturational changes.

Objectives: To evaluate the associations among social capital, substance use disorder and depression on a sample of 17 705 respondents between the ages of 12 and 17 in the 2009 National Survey of Drug Use and Health.

Comparing rating paradigms for evidence-based program registers in behavioral health: evidentiary criteria and implications for assessing programs.

Decision makers need timely and credible information about the effectiveness of behavioral health interventions. Online evidence-based program registers (EBPRs) have been developed to address this need. However, the methods by which these registers determine programs and practices as being “evidence-based” has not been investigated in detail.

An overview of evidence-based program registers (EBPRs) for behavioral health.

Evaluations of behavioral health interventions have identified many that are potentially effective. However, clinicians and other decision makers typically lack the time and ability to effectively search and synthesize the relevant research literature. In response to this opportunity, and to increasing policy and funding pressures for the use of evidence-based practices, a number of “what works” websites have emerged to assist decision makers in selecting interventions with the highest probability of benefit.

An application of a new evidence grading system to research on the chronic care model.

Methodological quality undergirds all evidence-based medicine because without strong evidence supporting or refuting the efficacy of an intervention, the movement toward basing medical decisions and practice on scientific evidence is not sustainable. Recently, the consensus that had existed regarding the hierarchy of evidence produced by a study design was challenged on the basis that existing guidelines failed to properly define key terms, weight the merits of certain non-randomized controlled trials, and employ a comprehensive list of study design limitations to render evaluative conclusions, to name a few of the challenges. The present study introduces a new grading system that overcomes, or at the very least greatly diminishes, these challenges.

Structure and measurement properties of the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care instrument.

Objective: In this study, the authors investigated the psychometric properties of a modified version of the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) - a self-report instrument designed to measure the extent to which patients with chronic illness receive care congruent with the chronic care model.

Research Design And Method: Five hundred and twenty-nine (529) type 2 diabetics were surveyed with a modified-PACIC.

Results: An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted that accounted for the ordinal nature of the PACIC items.

Development and evaluation of the short version of the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care instrument.

Objectives: The Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) was developed for measuring the extent to which patients receive care congruent with the chronic care model (CCM). The purpose of this study was to develop a short version of the PACIC with better psychometric properties than the original instrument.

Methods: Two samples of 529 and 361 type 2 diabetic patients completed a modified PACIC.