Monitoring indicators and evaluating the impact of public policy investments for children

Population and Public Health

Social and Health Policy Sciences

An underlying public policy problem has been the lack of capacity for monitoring outcomes or evaluating the long-term impact of large-scale policy investments on children over time.  Our recent pilot project identified 50 potential indicators of health determinants, health status and service outcomes that could potentially derive from provincial and national administrative data sources.  Initially, indicators will be tested in BC for feasibility regarding ongoing data collection, analysis and reporting for public monitoring purposes, with the long-term aim of developing indicators for national use.  Simultaneously, models will be developed and tested for using indicators to prospectively evaluate the impact of large-scale provincial and national policy initiatives on children’s mental health outcomes over time.  Secondary analyses of longitudinal datasets potentially permits evaluation of specific policy initiatives (such as new prevention and treatment programs), as well as evaluation of the comparative impact of different kinds of policy investments (such as targeted versus universal programs, or investments in healthcare versus investments in other sectors such as education).  The FHS is establishing capacity for data access, storage and linkage in conjunction with collaborators at other BC universities, developments that will aid this project.  Policy partners will be involved in the project –– in designing indicators and reporting mechanisms, in determining priorities for evaluation, and as users of emerging findings.