Journal of Cancer Education, Online First™ -
Online Evaluation Programs: Benefits and Limitations
Abstract
Patient
navigation programs are increasing throughout the USA, yet some
evaluation measures are too vague to determine what
and how navigation functions. Through collaborative efforts
an online evaluation program was developed. The goal of this evaluation
program is to make data entry accurate, simple, and
efficient. This comprehensive program includes major components on
staff,
mentoring, committees, partnerships, grants/studies,
products, dissemination, patient navigation, and reports. Pull down
menus,
radio buttons, and check boxes are incorporated whenever
possible. Although the program has limitations, the benefits of having
access to current, up-to-date program data 24/7 are worth
overcoming the challenges. Of major benefit is the ability of the
staff to tailor summary reports to provide anonymous
feedback in a timely manner to community partners and participants. The
tailored data are useful for the partners to generate
summaries for inclusion in new grant applications.
