Module 6: HIV Prevention Evaluation for Native Communities

Goal of Module 6: To provide an evaluation framework for your HIV prevention intervention program.

In order to provide an effective HIV prevention intervention for Native people, you will need to ensure that a solid, culturally relevant evaluation plan informs your program from beginning to end. Program evaluation can help determine whether your HIV prevention intervention program is accomplishing what it set out to accomplish. This module includes an overview of helpful cultural components that effect evaluation, hands-on considerations, evaluation steps and tools, and avenues to share lessons learned to help you build an effective evaluation for your HIV prevention intervention program.

Contents 1 Key Concepts to Guide Your Evaluation

This module discusses how to create and conduct evaluation of your HIV/AIDS prevention intervention program.

It includes information on:

1.


Key Concepts to Guide Evaluation

2.
Hands-On Considerations
3.
Evaluation Steps

 

Caring is the creation of a partnership between a program, its evaluation staff, and the community. Caring is best demonstrated by being open to the needs and concerns of the program, accepting information unconditionally, and connecting with the community.

Traditions and traditional values. Through traditions, Native people know who they are and how they are connected to their family, community, and tribe. Traditions may include components of traditional medicine--old ways, ceremonies, and rituals--as well as conventional medicine in the treatment of illness and disease. Traditions may also dictate behavior: for example, it is a Native tradition to care for elders.

Respect. You can both learn and show respect by listening carefully. Respect entails acknowledging the wisdom or experience of community members and sharing information rather than taking an authoritarian stance. Remember that community members may also demonstrate respect by hesitating to discuss certain things with "outsiders," especially topics that could reflect poorly on their community. To avoid communication problems, be honest with the community about the purpose of your questions and how their responses will be used in reporting.

"We are all connected." This statement reflects how Native people understand the cosmos, as a unifying life force that threads through all things (a circle of life). This belief honors all people, the past, present, and future, and living in harmony with nature. It incorporates a sense of holism and integrates all of the various components of life--physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. If you can demonstrate to community members that your evaluation work connects to the health of the whole population, then your program and evaluation will be more effective.

Holism is an extension of being connected. In Native communities, health programs do not operate in a vacuum; instead they are a part of a greater, more influential whole. Because evaluation relies in part on isolating behaviors and influences within a community, holism can make evaluation efforts difficult at times. To avoid problems, plan your program and evaluation carefully before you begin work.

Trust is a critical component in building relationships. It is best demonstrated through actions over time, actions that are consistent and observable by community members. You must thoroughly explain your project and address any concerns about confidentiality and disclosure to all participants, especially when dealing with sensitive topics like HIV/AIDS. Offer opportunities for questions and try to under-promise and over-deliver on your project. If you do not know the answer to a question, admit it. Always err on the side of trust and honesty. Once the credibility of your program or its staff has been called into question, you may lose the trust of the community.

Understand how a particular Native community reaches decisions. Realize that most communities have a consensus-building model for decision-making that includes a natural process of discussion between community member/leaders. This process may be more time-consuming than you are used to, but you can build trust by involving the community in each step of the project. Many Native people have had studies conducted in their communities, yet they have never learned the results of those studies. Make sure to allow enough time in your program and evaluation timeline to report the findings back to the community members.

Spirituality is an extension of respect--respect to the "Great Mystery" or "Creator"--and is incorporated into most activities of daily living. Prayers often invoke blessings and benefits at the beginning of meetings and community gatherings; they serve to connect members of a group. The person who invokes the blessing depends on the local custom; community elders often attend meetings specifically for this purpose. When in doubt, defer to a community member to identify who should offer the prayer.

    • Consider the role of tradition in your community and in your HIV program. What are some traditional values that need to be incorporated into your evaluation design?

    • Consider ways your community can be a part of designing your evaluation. (For example, how are decisions made in your community? Who should be a part of the decisions making in your evaluation program).