Empowerment evaluation in redesigning a public health unit nutrition program.

This article illustrates how empowerment evaluation was used in Toronto Public Health's (TPH) nutrition programming redesign to consult with staff about how roles, responsibilities, and organisational structure could be changed to improve how nutrition programs are delivered. One of three moderators facilitated the ten two-hour focus group sessions in TPH. TPH staff, namely 71 front-line staff and 13 managers who were responsible for providing community nutrition services, participated in the study. Focus group participants included Public Health Dietitians, Public Health Nutritionists, Public Health Nurses (PHNs), and paraprofessionals (i.e., community nutrition assistants). Participants' preferred roles, responsibilities, and organisational structure in TPH, which they believe would improve nutrition service delivery in the community, were examined. A constant comparison approach was used to develop themes inductively. It was found that participants wanted Dietitians and Nutritionists to provide current nutrition-related information to them. They felt that nutrition programs should be promoted better and made more accessible to the public. They suggested that Dietitians and Nutritionists and other staff should share information with each other better. They suggested that Dietitians and Nutritionists should provide nutrition services directly to the public and provide support to other staff, mainly PHNs, who deliver nutrition programs. In conclusion, this empowerment evaluation produced results that were used to assist in decision making about nutrition programming.