Evaluation Projects

Evaluation projects

Evaluation provides a systematic process to document the impact of programmatic work, identifies needs for quality improvement, and maximizes intervention outcomes.

CEPH provides comprehensive evaluation services, and our staff members are skilled in using a variety of methods to conduct evaluation, share lessons learned, and contribute to best practice models. Our evaluation projects are funded by federal agencies, state agencies, private foundations, and community organizations.

Group shot of U N E students on a trip

The Center for Excellence in Collaborative Education

CEPH has been conducting process and outcome evaluation studies for Center to Advance Interprofessional Education since 2014. Key activities include:

  • Annual Surveys of All Health Professions Students in Westbrook College of Health Professions, College of Dental Medicine, and College of Osteopathic Medicine.
  • Evaluation of the Interprofessional Team Immersion Program
  • Evaluation of Parallel Processes Case-Based Learning
  • 5-Year Impact Study of Health Professions Alumni graduate from UNE Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic

CEPH collaborates with Maine’s two Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) grantees, Community Health and Counseling Services and Sweetser, to evaluate the expansion of behavioral health services. Findings from these pilot projects will help inform the adoption of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model more broadly in Maine.

Funder

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Project Period

February 2021–January 2023

Chronic Disease Evaluation Services

CEPH professional staff provide evaluation services for federally funded project 1815 — Improving the Health of Americans through Prevention and Management of Diabetes and Heart Disease and Stroke. The team collects and analyzes data to track progress for interventions and activities across Maine and assess the impact of implementation on provider and patient health outcomes. Evaluation reports focus on identifying challenges, highlighting outcomes, identifying challenges, and providing continuous quality improvement for the Maine CDC's CDPCP.

The five-year evaluation will capture the results of the project in terms of progress toward four areas of focus:

  • Improve access to and participation in evidence-based programs related to the prevention and management of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease including National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP), Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES), and Self-Measured Blood Pressure programs.
  • Assist health systems with the implementation of evidence-based systems for improving patient care including bi-directional electronic referral systems and team-based care.
  • Promote the adoption and utilization of electronic health records, health information technology, and clinical quality measures (i.e., National Quality Forum) reporting to improve patient care and monitor health disparities.
  • Increase public and private health plan coverage for National DPP and strengthen the utilization of DSMES as a covered benefit by eligible health plan beneficiaries.

For highlights of program impact and results, view the infographics and reports on the Maine CDC website.

Funder

Maine Center for Disease and Control and Prevention and Control Program (CDPCP)

Project Period

November 2018–September 2023

The Maine Advanced Nursing Education Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program

The Maine Advanced Nursing Education Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program (Maine ANE SANE Program) is a collaborative effort of the UNE Department of Nursing and the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Program at the Maine Office of Child and Family Services, Maine Department of Health and Human Services. This unique private/public collaboration will strengthen the state’s existing innovative SANE training program by increasing its reach and impact through simulation and pedagogical training with ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a technology-based program that allows medical experts to share knowledge with local practitioners in remote rural areas. The program will particularly target SANE trainings in these areas and for these populations. CEPH professional staff will provide evaluation services and technical assistance to ensure that SANE trainings are delivered as intended and achieve the planned learning objectives.

Funder

Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources, and Services Administration

Project Period

September 2018–June 2022
 

Minority Health Evaluation Services

CEPH professional staff provide evaluation services for the Maine CDC’s federally funded project aimed at reducing disparities in access to diabetes and HIV health and social services. Working collaboratively with the Maine CDC, community-based organizations, and clinical partners, the evaluation team will measure the impact of culturally tailored adaptations of the Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) service and the HIV Steps to Care model on reducing health disparities.

Funder

Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Project Period

October 2020–September 2022

The Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopment and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program

Project Alliance, Drug-Free Communities

Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition (CHCC) at UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine was awarded a Drug-Free Communities grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Project Alliance’s goal is to prevent and reduce substance use among youth in nine towns in Northern York County. CHCC contracts with the CEPH for program evaluation services, including quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis and display, and environmental scanning.

Funder

Office of National Drug Control Policy

Project Period

October 2015–December 2020
 

Providers Clinical Support System – Universities (PCSS-U)

The goal of this project is to increase the number of osteopathic physicians and physician assistants educated in Maine who provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). This will be achieved by providing training on OUD and MAT to College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) and physician assistant (PA) students in their pre-clinical years, securing clinical faculty in Maine with experience providing MAT under whom students may train in their clinical years, and evaluating these components to revise the UNE COM and PA curricula on OUD and MAT.

Funder

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Project Period

October 2019–September 2022