Quality indicators for health promotion programmes

Methods for systematically following up and auditing health promotion have been in demand for a considerable period of time. Quality assurance as an a uditing method has opened up new opportunities in this area. On the basis o f Donabedian's 'triad' of structure, process and outcome, the theoretical p reconditions for and implementation of a number of successful health promot ion programmes/projects have been analysed with regard to their common char acteristics. These characteristics have been generalized and then transform ed into indicators of a successful health promotion programme/project. To e nsure the practical applicability of the quality indicators they were opera tionalized in what we call a 'question pro-forma'. Any negative response to a question on the pro-forma indicates quality defects in a programme and a ny positive response the opposite. The 'template' can be employed for both the planning and auditing for quality assurance on health promotion program mes and projects. The question pro-forma has been tested successfully on a number of programmes and projects. The results from one study are shown in the article.