BodyWorks Evaluation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH) has contracted with Health Systems Research, Inc. (HSR) to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the BodyWorks Toolkit. The goal of this evaluation is to:

1. Evaluate the impact of BodyWorks on awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and practices of parents and adolescent girls in relation to physical activity and nutrition,
2. Determine the most effective strategies for ensuring successful implementation of the BodyWorks program.

At least six organizations will be selected as evaluation sites and in partnership with them the following data will be collected:

• Each of the sites will survey approximately 50* parent/caregivers (Ideally, 25 who completed the BodyWorks training, and 25 who did not yet participate). Parents will complete pre and post questionnaires. These questionnaires (and consent) will each take no longer than 30 minutes to complete.
• Each of the sites will survey 15-20 girls whose parent/caregiver participated in the BodyWorks training. They will come on the last day of the training to complete a questionnaire.
• HSR will conduct short telephone interviews with administrators from each of the sites.

Sites may benefit from participating in the evaluation by receiving site-specific in-depth nutrition and physical activity data; obtaining new nutrition and physical activity program evaluation instruments; and inclusion in the acknowledgements on the primary evaluation article. Parent/caregivers will be given a gift card of $10 for completion of the surveys.

It will be the responsibility of the sites to collect the data from parent/caregivers and adolescents. HSR will provide technical assistance and guidance to the selected sites in the recruitment of participants and collection of data. It will also be the responsibility of HSR to analyze the data across sites and report on the findings.

This study has received the federal government's Office of Management and Budget clearance (OMB Control No: 0990-0306) and it has been approved by the George Washington University Institutional Review Board. A final report will be submitted to the OWH. There is also the expectation that the results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.

The next page provides more details about the steps in the evaluation. If you would like more information, please contact Jonelle Rowe by e-mail, or Jodi Anthony by e-mail or phone at 202-828-5100.

The key steps in the site evaluation are listed below.

Prior to the Sessions, HSR will:

• Notify Hager Sharp that your organization will be participating in the evaluation and provide them the list of trainers from your organization. This will ensure that you will receive enough BodyWorks toolkits for the participants.
• Send the evaluation packet two (2) weeks prior to the session beginning. This packet will contain: questionnaires and individual envelopes for each questionnaire, consent forms, and FedEx labels to return the requisite materials to HSR.
• Work with you to identify and engage potential parent/caregivers who could act as a comparison group.

Prior to the Sessions, we ask that you:

• Order your toolkits through Hager Sharp, five (5) weeks in advance.
• Complete an information and agreement form.
• Complete your internal approval requirements, if you have any. We will assist you in this process if you would like.
• Plan an additional 30 minutes into your first and last BodyWorks sessions for the evaluation.

At the First Session we ask that the Facilitator:

• Distribute and collect consent forms and pre-intervention questionnaires for the caregivers.
• Complete the class summary form.

At the conclusion of the last class, we ask the Facilitator:

• Distribute the parent/caregiver post-intervention questionnaires and the appropriate adolescent consent forms.
• Distribute and collect the adolescent questionnaires and the assent forms.
• Distribute incentives.
• Complete a class summary form.
• Return the questionnaires, receipts, consent and assent form copies, and class summary forms to HSR.

After the Sessions HSR will:

• Conduct a 1-hour group discussion with your agency's BodyWorks trainers and other relevant staff.
• Reimburse your agency for incentives that you provided to BodyWorks participants at the last session.
• Analyze your site specific data and provide you with a descriptive statistic report.

Current as of July, 2008