Process evaluation of an elementary school health learning intervention in Finland
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the process evaluation for a two‐year (2008‐2010) participatory action research project focusing on home‐school partnership in health learning, undertaken within the Schools for Health in Europe (SHE) in Eastern Finland.
Design/methodology/approach
Two intervention schools and two control schools (grade 5 pupils, parents, and selected school personnel) participated in a study. Process evaluation data were collected from intervention schools after 10 months of participation, by interviewing two classroom teachers and three families. In addition, program documents and relevant statistics were collected from schools during the intervention.
Findings
Teachers' opinions on the development process varied from more concrete expectations (School A teacher) to overall satisfaction to implementation (School B teacher). Parents believed that their children would benefit from the project later in life. The context and differences of the school environments were likely to affect the development process at the school level.
Research limitations/implications
This paper demonstrates a process evaluation in two schools and, therefore, limits the generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
The process evaluation was an essential part of this intervention study and may provide a useful structure and an example for process evaluation for future school‐based health intervention studies.
Originality/value
This study highlights the importance of planning the process evaluation structure before the start of the intervention, brings out the relevance of systematically assessing the process while it is ongoing, and illustrates process evaluation in an action research project.
Keywords
Citation
Sormunen, M., Saaranen, T., Tossavainen, K. and Turunen, H. (2012), "Process evaluation of an elementary school health learning intervention in Finland", Health Education, Vol. 112 No. 3, pp. 272-291. https://doi.org/10.1108/09654281211217795
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited