Context: From teaching mindfulness to making salad dressing, Watertown’s Community Wellness Programs aim to increase the social, emotional, and physical health of its residents. Since 2014, the Live Well Watertown partnership has implemented many dozens of programs and events aimed at educating Watertown residents, motivating behavior change, and building a stronger, healthier community. In 2019, The Watertown Health Department wanted to measure the impact of its programs so that it could offer more effective and targeted programs in the future.
(Photo credit: Mike Kenneally on Unsplash)
Action: As the program evaluator, I worked with the Community Wellness Program Manager to develop a framework for synthesizing key outcomes from 18 online surveys covering diverse programs. I captured findings in a written report and presented results to the Live Well Watertown Coalition.
Result: Live Well Watertown programs are well-received by their attendees and meet the goal of being educationally fulfilling. Through the evaluation, we identified opportunities to ask questions targeted around behavior change and social connection, two other key goals of Live Well Watertown.
Check out the link below to learn more:
- The Live Well Watertown website, where you can learn about upcoming programs and events (also the source of the featured image)
Evan Kuras 