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Decrease Over Time in Awareness and Use of Unaddressed Self-help Materials: Implications for Evaluation
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Decrease Over Time in Awareness and Use of Unaddressed Self-help Materials: Implications for Evaluation

K P Balanda, S Deeds, W R Stanton and John B Lowe
Health Promotion Journal of Australia, Vol.9(1), pp.35-38
1999
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Abstract

recall process evaluation self-help materials
Issues addressed: The impact of the timing of community surveys on some of the measures used in process evaluations. Method: A series of measures relating to the awareness and use of an unaddressed self-help booklet delivered to households in a small Queensland (Australia) community were collected one week, three weeks, and six weeks after its delivery. These included awareness, perusal, use, discussion, and retention of the booklet. Results: Awareness decayed by half in six weeks, from 77 per cent at one week to 49 per cent at three weeks and 37 per cent at six weeks. This decay was observed in each population subgroup defined by sociodemographic variables such as age, sex, education or having a partner. Some of the measures did not decay over time. Most however, did decay over the six week period, although at differential rates. Conclusions: These measures of program implementation are heavily influenced by the timing of the measurement in relation to the delivery of the materials. So what? Results of the study suggest that the timing of follow-up community surveys may be critical when interpreting the results of process evaluations.

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