title: Utilization of internal evaluation results by community mental health organizations: Credibility in different forms.
abstract: Internal evaluations are numerous but the literature is largely focused on external evaluations. There have been few explorations of the factors affecting the use of findings from internal evaluations that are carried out by program staff in community organizations. This study examined the instrumental use of internal evaluation findings within 19 community mental health organizations in Ontario, Canada. All but one respondent reported instrumental use in their organization, using the evaluation findings to make program-related decisions. For these non-controversial programs, qualities such as the ability of internal evaluators to identify relevant information, their role/expertise within the organization and the consistency of evaluation findings with current understanding appeared to influence use more strongly than evaluator objectivity.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Policy and Administration, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3. Electronic address: ayusa@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yusa
authors.affiliation: York Institute for Health Research, Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3. Electronic address: mhynie@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hynie
authors.affiliation: Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario Division, 180 Dundas Street West, Suite 2301, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 1Z8. Electronic address: smitchell@ontario.cmha.ca.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D006801:Humans; D009864:Ontario; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Evaluation use; Evaluation utilization; Evaluator credibility; Internal evaluation; Mental health program evaluation