A methodology for monitoring and evaluating community health coalitions

Community coalitions are prominent mechanisms for building local capacities to address health and social concerns. Although there are case studies and descriptive reports on coalitions, there is little empirical information about coalition process and outcome. This paper describes a case study using a methodology for monitoring and evaluating community health coalitions. Data are fed back to coalition leaders and members, funding agents, and other relevant audiences as part of the development process. The monitoring system provides data on eight key measures of coalition process and outcome: the number of members, planning products, financial resources generated, dollars obtained, volunteers recruited, services provided, community actions and community changes. Illustrative data are presented for two different community health coalitions. Finally, challenges and opportunities in evaluating community coalitions are discussed.