Alzheimer’s Intervention Evaluation
Introduction

This paper provides a basic evaluation plan for evaluating a health program for elderly patients with Alzheimer’s. The health program focuses on designing and implementing an open space concept for the patient, having a social worker regularly meet with the patient and loved one or caretakers to ensure support, having family therapy sessions available for loved ones acting as caretakers if they should want it and providing a falls prevention initiative through training in an exercise routine to strengthen the balance and agility of the elderly person—all of which are considered vital aspects to improving the health status of an elderly person with Alzheimer’s (Canning et al., 2015; Hoof, Kort, Van Warde & Blom, 2010; Rubin, 2011). The overall question an intervention evaluation asks is: Was the intervention implemented as planned? (Harris, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation plan for the Health Program for Elderly Patients with Alzheimer’s.

Five Factors

The five factors that must be considered for the evaluation of the Health Program for Elderly Patients with Alzheimer’s disease are:

1. Has a falls prevention plan been initiated?

2. Has an open space room concept been implemented?

3. Has a social worker been contacted for scheduling regular visits?

4. Have family members been provided with Alzheimer’s education and access to family therapy to assist in coping with the stress of caring for a loved one with the disease?

5. Was the intended population participating as planned?

Type of Evaluation

The formative evaluation is the most appropriate type of evaluation for this health program as the evaluation is being conducted near the middle of the time allotted for the initiative to ensure that the implementation of the program has proceeded along smoothly. As Harris (2010) notes, “formative and process evaluations assess the context, the reach, the dosage, or the intensity of the initiative and the fidelity with which it is delivered. They assess the initiative at the level of resources/inputs and outputs and determine the effectiveness of the administrative functions of the program” (p. 192). The formative evaluation gives a sense of what has been done and what still needs to be done. Were the evaluation taking place at the end of the initiative, a process evaluation would be more appropriate.

Table 1. Evaluation Questions

Evaluation Questions

Formative

Outcome

Were all the components of the plan implemented?

What is the knowledge of Alzheimer’s among the participating population and what is their readiness level for dealing with Alzheimer’s?

What is the level of implementation of the Health Program (open space plan, social worker visits, family therapy, and falls prevention?

What activities have taken place to support the policy to reduce the risk of falls and confusion for the patient?

What human, financial, and material resources were provided and used?

These evaluation questions should be used to guide the formative assessment. To assist in conducting the assessment, indicators and source data have to be considered (Harris, 2010). For each formative assessment evaluation question, therefore, one must know what to look for to measure to answer the question and where that information can be found (i.e., what is the source). In the following table, the evaluation questions are provided along with the indicators and source data that should be used to answer...…keeping up with conditioning exercises, therapy, social work visits, etc., especially if they are no longer perceived as necessary. The main factor to be evaluated then will be attitudes towards the disease, frequency of falls to see if they are being prevented any better than at baseline, and frequency of bouts of confusion and anger to see if the open space plan has helped to create a more accommodating environment for the patient.

Reporting the Results

The last step in the evaluation process is the reporting of the results. The results of the evaluation should be communicated to the team responsible for implementing the intervention so that they can be aware of the results and obtain the necessary feedback for improving their design. At this time, recommendations for improvements are to be given based on the interpretations of the data. Questions should also be answered from the team to ensure that feedback flows go both ways.

Conclusion

The main goal of evaluating the Health Program for Elderly Patients with Alzheimer’s disease is to assess whether the intervention was implemented as planned? The original plan, therefore, has to be developed with factors that are to be addressed, and indicators and sources of data that are to be identified so as to be able to measure the outcome of the implementation. A baseline measurement has to be taken and two posttests should be conducted, one at the conclusion of the program and one 6 months later to assess the staying power of the program. The data should be interpreted and reported to the team to facilitate the development of improvements in the program’s delivery in the future.…