Evaluation

Ongoing evaluation is recommended for each HPPAE to document progress and outcomes, and continuously improve the quality of your program. HPPAEs should evaluate their own program or join other programs in a multi-site evaluation. Evaluation will help you:

• Assess whether your HPPAE is meeting your educational goals, including increased student knowledge and interest in aging, as well as practice competency
• Generate empirical data to demonstrate effectiveness to current and potential funders and other stakeholders
• Identify areas where the model could be improved or adapted
• Examine stakeholder (i.e., students, faculty, agency staff) satisfaction with the program and its implementation
• Develop materials that can be used to market your HPPAE to prospective students, faculty, and agency staff
• Inspire other practitioners in the field to learn from and adopt the model

What Are Indicators of Success?

The HPPAE can be evaluated at two levels: student and institutional. Basic indicators of the HPPAEs success at the student level include:

• Student gains knowledge of aging, including services available to older adults
• Student gains skills and interest in working with older adults
• Post-graduate employment in the field of aging
• Overall competence, accomplishments, and leadership in the social work field

Basic indicators of success at the institutional level include:

• Increased number of students specializing in aging in the graduate program
• Increased number of students enrolled in aging courses
• Increased number of students in aging-field placements
• Increased number of agencies providing services to older adults involved with the field education program
• Improved communication and collaboration between the university and agencies serving older adults