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Abstract

IntroductionAs the global prevalence of obesity and chronic diseases continues to rise, the need for effective health promotion programs is imperative. Whilst research into effectiveness of health promotion programs is needed to improve population health outcomes, translation of these research findings into policy and practice is crucial. Presently, evaluation has been applied inconsistently to health promotion programs [5], limiting the translation of knowledge. Health promotion programs have further been criticised for insufficient evaluation planning [6] and scrutinised as "fail (ing) to contribute to their own quality enhancement" [5]. Barriers to evaluation include funding constraints, lack of knowledge, skills and familiarity with evaluation methodologies and poor availability of measurement tools. Information related AbstractBackground: Evaluation has an integral role in effective health promotion, yet few large scale health promotion interventions prospectively incorporate rigorous evaluation into their planning processes. To promote greater use of evaluation we reviewed the health promotion literature incorporating evaluations and have produced a succinct summary.