Integrating Health Equity in a Multi-Level Evaluation: Cross-Initiative Evaluation of Violence Prevention Efforts

Abstract Information: The Violence Prevention Practice and Translation Branch (VPPTB) within the Division of Violence Prevention of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to prevent various types of violence by funding state and territorial health departments and state, territorial and tribal violence coalitions to implement violence prevention programming. Across VPPTB-funded programs, recipients implement violence prevention strategies addressing adverse childhood experiences, child abuse and neglect, intimate partner violence, teen dating violence, sexual violence, and youth violence. This presentation aims to assess the contribution of VPPTB's initiatives to expand and integrate health equity across its cross-initiative evaluation, program-level, and technical assistance teams to promote violence prevention. VPPTB’s cross-initiative evaluation examines the programmatic efforts of nine violence prevention initiatives funded by VPPTB and has seven focus areas with corresponding evaluation questions. The focus areas include 1) Capacity Building, 2) Evaluation and Outcomes, 3) Data to Action, 4) Health Equity, 5) Strategies and Implementation, 6) Planning and Partnerships, and 7) VPPTB Coordination and Support. This presentation will focus on one of VPPTB’s cross-initiative focus areas, Health Equity, and the corresponding evaluation question: “How have initiatives and recipients contributed to and advanced health equity?”. VPPTB has intentionally incorporated specific cross-initiative evaluation questions about health equity to assess how program recipients are integrating health equity into their violence prevention efforts and use a health equity lens to guide their evaluation methodology. This presentation provides a brief overview of how VPPTB’s cross-initiative team incorporated cross-initiative health equity evaluation questions and how VPPTB’s Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program, Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances Achieving Health Equity through Addressing Disparities (DELTA AEHAD) program, and how the Technical Assistance Coordination and Translation (TACT) team align their respective strategies and evaluation design to inform both program-level and cross-initiative health equity efforts. This presentation also describes program recipient approaches to integrating health equity into the implementation and evaluation of prevention efforts across various violence domains and types of implementing organizations. This presentation elucidates the approaches adopted to address disparities and promote inclusivity within violence prevention efforts by focusing on advancing health equity. This presentation will provide insight into the current landscape of health equity efforts, but also underscores the importance of integrating standardized resources and measures into programmatic evaluation frameworks and technical assistance. By synthesizing our experiences and insights, this presentation offers valuable lessons and recommendations for enhancing evaluation practice through the integration of a health equity perspective.