title: Measuring the tail of the dog that doesn't bark in the night: the case of the national evaluation of Choose Life (the national strategy and action plan to prevent suicide in Scotland).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Learning about the impact of public health policy presents significant challenges for evaluators. These include the nebulous and organic nature of interventions ensuing from policy directives, the tension between long-term goals and short-term interventions, the appropriateness of establishing control groups, and the problems of providing an economic perspective. An example of contemporary policy that has recently been subject to evaluation is the first phase of the innovative Scottish strategy for suicide prevention (Choose Life).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper discusses how challenges, such as those above, were made manifest within this programme. After a brief summary of the overarching approach taken to evaluating the first phase of Choose Life, this paper then offers a set of recommendations for policymakers and evaluators on how learning from a second phase might be augmented. These recommendations are likely to have general resonance across a range of policy evaluations as they move from early planning and implementation to more mature phases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. m.mackenzie@lbss.gla.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mhairi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.forename: Avril
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blamey
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Halliday
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maxwell
authors.forename: Allyson
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McCollam
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McDaid
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: MacLean
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woodhouse
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Platt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D035841:Behavioral Research / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006291:Health Policy; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011050:Policy Making; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000092864:Suicide Prevention