EVALUATING PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE WESTERN-AUSTRALIAN-HEALTH-PROMOTION-FOUNDATION - FIRST RESULTS

The paper describes output measures of performance of the Western Aust ralian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway), using a system known a s graduated project evaluation (GPE). Results are reported at the basi c and process levels of evaluation on 588 health and sponsorship proje cts, and at the impact level based on surveys of 5710 spectators and p articipants at 53 sport, arts and racing events sponsored by Healthway funds. Ar the basic and process levels the average Healthway project reached 7449 people directly and generated media coverage of health me ssages on 27.3 occasions. It secured on average, 0.99 healthy structur al reforms in recreational or cultural venues, involved the participat ion of local community members in project administration in 38% of ins tances, ar rd provided 1596 person-hours of health education. Non-smok ing, safe drinking nutrition, exercise, sun protection, safe sex and i njury prevention health messages were promoted using 24 different type s of sponsor benefits. Of the 5710 respondents surveyed post-event, 67 % were aware of the promoted health message and 82% of these understoo d what the message meant. Four per cent of all respondents intended to take action ranging from seeking information to adopting the health b ehaviour. A comparison of the cost-effectiveness of small and large sp onsorship projects is given to illustrate the use of GPE to inform fun ding decisions. Smaller projects out-performed larger projects on all available indicators. We discuss the peculiar features of the health p romotion foundation concept, methods to improve its performance and im plications for future research.