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).
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.
Mackenzie
Mhairi
M
Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. m.mackenzie@lbss.gla.ac.uk
Blamey
Avril
A
Halliday
Emma
E
Maxwell
Margaret
M
McCollam
Allyson
A
McDaid
David
D
MacLean
Joanne
J
Woodhouse
Amy
A
Platt
Stephen
S
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