ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AS A TOOL FOR PROGRAM-EVALUATION

Health program evaluation is generally focused on an examination of in dividual program characteristics and accomplishments, vet many program s are part of a broader service system. Evaluation of the role a progr am plays in that system is an important evaluation question to address . A network analysis of program referral patterns was used to evaluate Connecticut's Healthy Start program. Network analysis showed that Hea lthy Start played a ''broker'' role in 4 case study communities, sendi ng and receiving referrals of pregnant women to a higher than average number of other programs. Further, in the urban area case study, compe ting market players providing services to pregnant women resulted in s ubsets of services with dense referral patterns within the subsets but little referral between subsets. Healthy Start was found to be instru mental as an integrator of these otherwise disconnected service subset s.