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Program Development and Evaluation
ACTIVE PROJECTS
Evaluation of the California Community Transformation Grant (CTG) CA4Health
CDC
The Public Health Institute in California was awarded a Community Transformation Grant (CTG) to implement multiple healthy living strategies in 12 counties throughout California. The strategies implemented focus on reducing access to sugary beverages, tobacco cessation, safe routes to schools and increasing community use of high quality prevention health care services via community health workers. In partnership with UC Berkeley’s Atkins Center for Weight and Health, UCSF’s Center for Vulnerable Populations, and the Center for Community Health and Evaluation, S&A is evaluating the impact of the sugar-sweetened beverage and the health linkage strategies across all 12 counties. S&A is leading the sugar-sweetened beverage component of this evaluation; designing instruments, collecting data (including focus groups with youth and adult leaders, key informant interviews, FoodBEAMS, and online surveys), analyzing data and writing reports.
Evaluation of the Network for a Healthy California’s African American Campaign
Public Health Institute
Samuels & Associates is working with the Network for a Healthy California to gather information on the Network’s African American Campaign to measure awareness and readiness for the next phase of the Campaign's work. S&A will develop, pilot and administer an innovative and culturally-appropriate qualitative interview tool. In-depth interviews will be conducted with stakeholders in the African American Campaign throughout the state of California.
Kaiser Permanente Community Health Assessment in Stanislaus County
Kaiser Permanente
Samuels & Associates is working with Kaiser Permanente in Stanislaus County to conduct a community health assessment (CHA) to determine priority health issues, barriers and facilitators in accessing health care, and resources and programs in place to address health issues for community residents in Stanislaus County. As part of the CHA, S&A is conducting key informant interviews, focus groups with residents in English and Spanish, and reviewing existing health and demographic data for the county. The results of the CHA will help Kaiser shape and prioritize the way Kaiser addresses health within Stanislaus County.
Building Healthy Communities Parent Engagement
Public Health Institute
We are developing a pre-post test survey for parents that have completed a 6-week training of the “Parent lesson plans: advocating for healthier school environments”, led by California Project LEAN. We are also conducting focus groups to understand parents’ perceptions and opinions of their capacity and confidence to advocate for the implementation, monitoring and/or revision of their local school wellness policies (SWP), as a result of the training and application of their knowledge and skills in actual hands-on activities. The assessment also seeks to understand the barriers and facilitators parents face when engaging in SWP advocacy work as well as the types of additional support or resources parents need to strengthen their capacity to do this work.
Stanislaus County Community Transformation Grant
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Samuels & Associates is assisting the Stanislaus Public Health Department during their capacity building phase of their CTG grant by conducting a series of focus groups on 1) tobacco use prevention (focused on voluntary policies in multiunit housing) and 2) healthy eating/active living (focused on perceptions and support for healthier corner storefront advertisement). We are also working with the SPHD to develop an evaluation plan and provide TA for their implementation phase of CTG.
Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Tobacco Evaluation in Santa Clara County
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Samuels & Associates has designed a multi-method evaluation to document Santa Clara County’s tobacco prevention work. Santa Clara County has been working since 2010 to implement key strategies, and develop and adopt policies to reduce tobacco use across the county. The evaluation is using a variety of data collection methods including online surveys, key informant interviews, environmental assessments and focus groups to describe the initiative’s accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and best practices.
Community Transformation Grant (CTG) Capacity Building Phase
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Samuels & Associates is designing, implementing and reporting on a multi-method evaluation including a community health assessment, grantee reporting interviews with leadership team members, a coalition analysis, policy scan, and key informant interviews with community stakeholders for tobacco use prevention and healthy eating/active living.
Evaluation of the Network for a Healthy California’s Latino Campaign, Phase 3
Public Health Institute
Samuels & Associates is working with the Network for a Healthy California and Field Research Corporation to conduct an evaluation for their Latino Campaign in order to measure awareness, impact and outcomes of the Latino Campaign. The evaluation team has finalized, pilot tested, and is administering an in depth phone survey with approximately 1000 Latinos in California. The survey investigates their fruit and vegetable consumptions, knowledge and opinions around healthy eating and physical activity and awareness and impressions of the Latino Campaign. In addition, S&A is interviewing health departments to gather information on their awareness and readiness for the next phase of the Latino Campaign's work.
Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Obesity Evaluation in Santa Clara County
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Samuels & Associates has designed a multi-method evaluation to document Santa Clara County’s obesity prevention work. Santa Clara County has been working since 2010 to implement key strategies, and develop and adopt policies to prevent obesity and reduce existing obesity rates use across the County. The evaluation is using a variety of data collection methods including online surveys, key informant interviews, environmental assessments and focus groups to describe the initiative’s accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and best practices.
The Impact of a New Full Service Grocery Store in a San Francisco Low-Income Community, Phase 3
Healthy Eating Research, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Samuels & Associates, in partnership with PolicyLink, Field Research Corporation, UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight and Health, The Southeast Food Access Working Group (SEFA), and Community Health Councils (CHC) were funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment to examine the impact of a new full-service grocery store in low-income multi-ethnic neighborhoods in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The study includes measures of healthy food availability, food purchasing and eating practices of neighborhood residents, and community perceptions and attitudes towards the new supermarket.
INACTIVE PROJECTS
USDA/FNS
Impaq International, LLC.
Through a contract with USDA, Food and Nutrition Section, and in collaboration with IMPAQ International, we are conducting market research, environmental scans and ethnographic surveys to ascertain the most effective designs and tools for delivering child-focused, school-based nutrition education using new technologies that improves the food choices and other nutrition-related behaviors of low-income children. The findings from this project will be used to inform federal nutrition education policy and programs, aid in the development of nutrition education guidance and communication strategies, inform the development of new and effective nutrition education interventions targeting behavior change, and using social media and other new communication technologies to develop new nutrition education materials and programs to communicate the principles of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010.
Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW)
California Project Lean
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, The CA Department of Public Health received funding through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for "Communities Putting Prevention to Work" (CPPW) – an effort to build capacity at the state and local levels for instituting chronic disease prevention policies. The California CPPW program focuses on two policy areas: creating healthier food environments by reducing the prevalence of sugar-sweetened beverages, and enhancing access to physical activity through joint use policies and agreements.
Samuels & Associates is evaluating the sugar-sweetened beverage and joint use policy work. A multi-method evaluation has been designed to document progress in implementing key strategies at the state and local levels, measure changes in policy development and adoption, and examine impacts of adopted policies. The evaluation will describe the initiative’s accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and best practices. The evaluation plan includes both short-term and intermediate outcomes, and the evaluation design is driven by several overarching research questions.
The City Project
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Active Living Research (ALR)
Samuels & Associates is working with The City Project in Los Angeles to monitor the implementation of a physical education motion that was passed in 2009 requiring stricter physical education standards in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). We are documenting the process that took place in order to pass the motion as well as visiting schools in LAUSD to assess and monitor the implementation and outcomes of the physical education motion.
Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC)
Children's Memorial Hospital
CLOCC is a seven-year old nationally recognized childhood obesity prevention program housed within the Center for Obesity Management and Prevention (COMP) at the Children's Memorial Research Hospital. It is a data-driven effort that brings together more than 800 organizations, with a common goal of protecting Chicago children from the obesity epidemic. Samuels & Associates uses a multi-method approach to evaluate CLOCC's effectiveness as a collaborative and impact on community based environmental and policy change strategies.
Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP)
Olmsted County Public Health Services (OCPHS)
Samuels & Associates is working with the Olmsted County Public Health Services (OCPHS) to evaluate the impact of their SHIP grant. Eight of their twelve interventions focus on diminishing the county’s chronic disease burden through increasing physical activity and access to healthy foods. The interventions utilize policy, systems and environmental changes in four settings in Olmsted: schools, work sites, health care and community. We are using a number of evaluation methods across sectors and organizations to examine key aspects of the process as well as outcomes. The evaluation employs a multi-method, participatory design to describe the current environments, assess changes made to and within these settings, discuss challenges encountered and successes achieved, and summarize lessons learned and best practices that emerge from OCPHS’s work. This approach will help describe the nature of the problem of obesity in Olmsted and provide data to define obesity prevention as a place-based issue in Minnesota.
Evaluation of the Smart Menu/Salud Tiene Sabor Menu Labeling Campaign in South Los Angeles, Salud America!
The California Endowment
Samuels & Associates, in partnership with Public Health Institute, Healthy Eating Active Communities and Esperanza Community Housing is evaluating the impact of Smart Menu/La Salud Tiene Sabor menu labeling program. La Salud Tiene Sabor was adopted by Mercado la Paloma, a group of seven independently-owned restaurants, to empower South Los Angeles residents to make healthy food choices via access to healthy menu items and nutrition information. The Smart Menu evaluation is a collaboration of restaurant owners, research and community-based organizations and the LA County Public Health Dept. The study is assessing the effect of menu labeling and nutrition information on families’ purchase intention and meal choices, and on restaurant vendor practices and sales. Evaluation methodologies include patron awareness assessments, environmental assessments, stakeholder surveys, sales tracking analysis, secondary data analyses, and media analysis.
S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
Samuels & Associates provides consulting services to the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation for the Oakland Unified School District Wellness Champion Initiative. Services include: formative research to identify priority issues and approaches, development and issuance of an RFP, proposal review and revisions, making funding recommendations, convening grantees on a regular basis, tracking grantee progress, connecting grantees to the broader obesity prevention community and movement, management of the grantee technical assistance team, coordination with the Initiative’s external evaluator, disseminating the Initiative’s successes and lessons learned, and building of partnerships and collaborations with other funders.
The Impact of a New Full Service Grocery Store on Two Low-Income Communities of Color
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment
Samuels & Associates, in partnership with PolicyLink, Field Research Corporation, UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight and Health, The Southeast Food Access Working Group (SEFA), and Community Health Councils (CHC) were funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment to examine the impact of a new full-service grocery store in low-income multi-ethnic neighborhoods in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The study includes measures of healthy food availability, food purchasing and eating practices of neighborhood residents, and community perceptions and attitudes towards the new supermarket.
Healthy Eating Active Communities (HEAC) Initiative
The California Endowment
Samuels & Associates was involved in designing this $26.2 million initiative of The California Endowment focusing on reducing disparities in obesity and diabetes by improving food and physical activity environments for school-age children. The initiative concentrates on five sectors: schools, after-school, neighborhoods, health care, and marketing and advertising. Samuels & Associates served as the lead evaluator, in collaboration with UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health and UCLA School of Public Health, in a participatory, multi-level evaluation within and across the five sectors of HEAC, measuring changes in the food and physical activity environments in each sector in the Endowment's six healthy eating and physical activity collaboratives located throughout California.
Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP), Evaluation
The California Endowment
The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP) is an initiative funded by The California Endowment that focuses on improving the social and physical environments for healthy nutrition and physical activity in the San Joaquin Valley. Six health departments and their community partners are collaborating to change these environments through advocacy, policy, and systems change efforts. Samuels & Associates conducted the evaluation of the program, including development of a regional logic model, environmental assessments, stakeholder surveys, policy tracking and a variety of other evaluation methods.
Healthy Foods and Beverages in Child Care Settings
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Healthy Eating Research Program
Samuels & Associates, in partnership with California Food Policy Advocates and UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight and Health, was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct a study of the foods and beverages offered to children ages 3-5 years in child care settings (licensed family day care homes and centers) in California. UC Berkeley, Samuels & Associates and CFPA conducted a self-administered statewide survey of childcare providers regarding the foods and beverages offered to young children in their care, conducted stakeholder interviews of key state and federal administrators, advocates, sponsors and policymakers, and convened experts to help develop policy recommendations to improve the foods and beverages offered in child care settings.
USDA Commodities Processing: Impact on School Meal Nutritional Quality and Cost
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Healthy Eating Research Program
This project is the next step to an earlier study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to look at the ways in which the commodities food program can help make school meals healthier. For this study, Samuels & Associates is working with California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA) and UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight & Health to identify policy opportunities to ensure that schools use commodity foods to offer the most nutritious meals at the lowest cost. The study is comparing the nutrient profiles of commodity foods processed into heat and serve entrees with entrees prepared on-site from minimally processed commodities (scratch cooked), identify cost differences between the two methods, and examine differences in the overall nutritional quality of menus served in districts using heat and serve versus scratch cooked entrees. Participating school districts will be selected from four counties in California and will be matched for size, free and reduced price meal eligibility and ethnic diversity.
Food and Beverage Environment Analysis and Monitoring System (FoodBEAMS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The Food and Beverage Environment Analysis and Monitoring System (Food BEAMS) is a web-based tool developed by Samuels & Associates primarily used to aid public health professionals and school administrators in monitoring implementation of school nutrition policies for competitive foods and beverages sold on campus. FoodBEAMS uses an observational data collection methodology to accurately catalogue competitive foods and beverages sold on school campuses, linked to a nutrient database of competitive foods and beverages, and assess their adherence to food and beverage standards.
Eat Well Berkeley Neighbor Store Project
City of Berkeley
The City of Berkeley Health and Human Services Department is working to improve access to healthier foods through the Eat Well Berkeley Neighbor Store Project. Evaluation of this project included assessments of the type of snack foods and beverages sold at small stores located near schools, intercept surveys with youth patronizing the stores to assess frequency of store visits and purchasing behavior, self-administered student surveys that examined student perceptions and attitudes around food sold in neighborhood stores, and a store owner survey.
Evaluation of Padres FriarFit Initiative
The California Endowment
Samuels & Associates, in collaboration with AACORN, received funding from The California Endowment to evaluate a multi-year healthy food and fitness initiative called San Diego Padres FriarFit. FriarFit is focused on offering healthier foods and beverages and increasing opportunities for physical activity at the ballpark in San Diego. FriarFit also works with local schools to increase physical activity among students in San Diego county. As part of the evaluation, Samuels & Associates conducted food, beverage and physical activity environmental assessments and stakeholder interviews with ballpark administrators and other key individuals involved in the initiative.
Continuation of the Study of the Commodities Food Program in Schools
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This project is the continuation of an earlier study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in conjunction with California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA) to look at the ways that the commodities food program can help to make school meals healthier. Under this continuation of the original study, Samuels & Associates is assisting CFPA in translating the original findings into technical assistance materials for school districts in order to support decision makers in making healthier choices for school meals; assisting school districts and advocates to monitor and track the impact of commodities on school meal programs for the purpose of advocating for improvements; developing standards by which commodities processing may be governed and further dissemination of the study findings.
Community Advocacy Initiative Evaluation
Health Funders Partnership; Prevention Institute
The Health Funders Partnership, a consortium of funders, funded five grantees in Orange County, CA to develop and implement policy approaches to prevent and reduce the risk for obesity and improve nutrition and physical activity environments. Samuels & Associates conducted the evaluation and provided technical assistance in evaluation to the grantees. As part of the same initiative, S&A also collaborated with the Prevention Institute (Oakland, CA) to provide technical assistance to the grantees on developing and carrying out their environmental change strategies.
Senior Nutrition Evaluation
Council on Aging, Silicon Valley
Samuels & Associates conducted a multi-method evaluation of senior nutrition programs in Santa Clara County, California. The evaluation was funded by the Council on Aging, Silicon Valley, in partnership with The Health Trust and assessed the extent to which the Congregate Meal Program and Home Delivered Meal Program met the needs of seniors. The evaluation employed a variety of methodologies including stakeholder and provider interviews, participant focus groups, analysis of secondary data sources, and a literature review and cost analysis to document the successes and challenges experienced by the programs, and opportunities, strategies and barriers for improving senior nutrition.
Fit for Learning Program Evaluation
Santa Clara County Office of Education
Samuels & Associates conducted an evaluation of the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Fit for Learning Initiative, a countywide effort to create school environments that promote healthy eating and physical activity for the children of Santa Clara County. The program is provided by the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) in cooperation with Healthy Silicon Valley and The Health Trust.
School Health Leadership Institute
Starting in 2003, a number of school health leadership institutes were conducted across California to educate and engage school districts around implementing coordinated school health within their districts. In order to evaluate the impact of the school health leadership institutes, Samuels & Associates conducted a stakeholder survey of a sample of institute participants. This survey was designed to assess participants’ perceptions of the usefulness of the institutes and how they have applied the knowledge gained through their participation in the Institute.
Physical Activity Assessment
The California Endowment
Samuels & Associates collaborated with the UCLA School of Public Health on a study funded by The California Endowment on disparities in school physical activity and physical education. The study compared physical education and physical activity opportunities in schools that report high scores on the California student FITNESSGRAM compared to school districts that report low student FITNESSGRAM scores.
Agricultural Workers Health Initiative Policy Evaluation
The California Endowment
Samuels & Associates, in partnership with Abundantia Consulting, evaluated policy strategies adopted by community grantees funded by The California Endowment to do demonstration projects under its Agricultural Workers Health Initiative. The Initiative’s goals are to achieve optimal health for agricultural workers, their families and their communities.
Student Self-Efficacy Assessment
Sports4Kids
Samuels & Associates conducted an evaluation of the impact of the Sports4Kids play-based school and after-school programs on youth. S&A trained Sports4Kids instructors to administer a survey assessing students’ perceptions of the program and comfort initiating play before and after exposure to the Sports4Kids program in 12 San Jose schools. Sports4Kids works to increase opportunities for safe, meaningful play, particularly in low-income communities.
Implementation of SB 12 & SB 965
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Samuels & Associates, in partnership with UC Berkeley, Center for Weight and Health and California Project LEAN, conducted a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of the implementation in state schools of two laws passed in the 2005 California legislature that set nutrition standards in state schools: SB12, which sets nutritional standards that limit the calories and sugar content kids consume, and SB965, which extends an existing ban on selling carbonated drinks to high schools.
Commodities in the Schools
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Samuels & Associates, in partnership with California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA) was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct a study of how commodities have shaped the healthfulness of what is served for breakfast and lunch in the National School Meal Program. Samuels & Associates and CFPA conducted quantitative analyses of the foods available to and ordered by schools, held focus groups to understand the influence of commodities on lunches from the Food Services perspective, and convened experts to help develop policy recommendations to improve the role of commodities in school meals.
National Meeting on School Nutrition/Physical Activity Policy Evaluation & Measurement
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The California Endowment
In 2004 Samuels & Associates convened a meeting on evaluating school nutrition and physical activity policies for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment to inform the field about the best methods for evaluating changes in school food and physical activity environments. The final report contains a framework and recommendations for evaluating school nutrition and physical activity policies.
Implementation of State Nutrition Standards Under SB 19: A Randomized Study
National Institutes of Health, The California Endowment
The California State Legislature’s Pupil Nutrition, Health, and Achievement Act of 2001, SB-19, passed in 2003, set minimum nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold on elementary and middle school campuses. Samuels & Associates, in conjunction with WestEd, UCLA and the UC Berkeley Center on Weight and Health, conducted a process evaluation of the implementation of SB 19 nutrition standards in 28 elementary and middle school sites in California in 2004 in tandem with a randomized, controlled outcome evaluation trial undertaken by WestEd and UCLA. The NIH-funded evaluation measured body composition (BMI), aerobic capacity, blood pressure, and selected diet, physical activity and weight control behaviors. The California Endowment also funded pieces of the process evaluation, including student surveys, stakeholder surveys and policy tracking. The evaluations aimed to test and measure the impact on students and schools of efforts to change California's school nutrition environment before the changes were made statewide.
The Impact of Removing Sweetened Beverages from High School Campuses: A Randomized Study
National Institutes of Health, The California Endowment
In partnership with UC Berkeley Center on Weight and Health, the NIH, and the California Endowment, Samuels & Associates assessed the impact of a three-year intervention pilot program removing sugar-sweetened beverages from two high school campuses in California. In addition, S&A and UC Berkeley Center on Weight and Health conducted cases studies of school districts that had adopted policies eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages from their campuses. These research activities described the effect of removing sugar-sweetened beverages from school campuses on total daily consumption of sweetened beverages, on body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat, and on changes in obesity. They also assessed the attitudes of those affected, described institutional barriers to and the economic impact of removing the beverages, and portrayed the impact of the intervention on school meal participation rates and a la carte food sales.
Diabetes’ Data to Action Project Evaluation
Alameda County Public Health Department
Samuels & Associates, in conjunction with Gardiner & Associates, evaluated the Alameda County Public Health Department's Data to Action Project. High rates of diabetes in Alameda County led County health officers to undertake the "Data to Action" program to generate data that could activate communities to address diabetes-related health disparities. The evaluation assessed the four components of the diabetes program: data collection, community involvement, diabetes case management, and redefining the health department's framework for addressing health disparities.
Fast Food Sales in Public High Schools (2000) and Marketing and Advertising in Public High Schools (2006)
The California Endowment
In 2001 Samuels & Associates, along with California Project LEAN, developed and conducted a survey to categorize the nutritional value of fast foods sold in public high schools across California. The results of this survey helped to inform statewide legislation, passed in 2005, that set standards for all foods and beverages commonly sold on school campuses. [link to survey] In 2006, Samuels & Associates and Project LEAN, with underwriting from the California Endowment, conducted a survey that assessed the prevalence of unhealthy food and beverage marketing on 20 high school campuses in 13 counties across California. Food and Beverage Marketing on California High School Campuses was published in 2006.
Diabetes Prevention Demonstration Projects Evaluation
The California Endowment
Samuels & Associates worked with San Francisco State University and Aguirre International on a 30-month evaluation of eight diabetes prevention demonstration projects funded by the California Endowment in 11 counties. The goal of these eight projects was to reduce health disparities in African-American, Latino, Native-American, Filipino and Vietnamese communities through diabetes education, treatment, and disease management strategies. Guided by a multi-disciplinary, multi-ethnic Advisory Committee, the evaluation documented what occurred on the community, institutional, and policy levels as a result of program efforts and consisted of site visits and environmental scans of the local context; ethno-specific research with program beneficiaries and community members that produced case studies of what diabetes prevention and disease management looks like from a community and cultural perspective; documentation of implementation challenges, solutions, and lessons learned; comparisons of state and regional quantitative data sets to program-specific outcomes; and information-sharing opportunities for grantees to build program capacity.
Physical Activity Campaign Background Research
California Nutrition Network
Samuels and Associates was contracted by the California Nutrition Network to conduct a literature review and environmental scan to inform the development of a strategic plan for a physical activity promotion campaign aimed at low-income Food Stamp recipients in California. As a part of this planning process, S&A participated in the statewide Physical Activity and Nutrition Integration Committee (PANIC) with representatives from the Cancer Prevention and Nutrition Section of the California Department of Health Services, the Prevention Institute, and representatives from physical activity promotion and research groups throughout California.
Fit WIC Evaluation
USDA
With funding from the USDA, Samuels & Associates evaluated the Fit WIC California Project, a partnership between the California WIC Program and the University of California, Berkeley Center on Weight and Health to incorporate obesity prevention counseling and support into the WIC Program. The Fit WIC Project worked in three pilot locations in California to develop site-specific, community-driven interventions to improve nutrition and physical activity in low-income families participating in WIC. S&A surveyed stakeholders and WIC program directors, tracked program activity at the three WIC locations, and elicited feedback from focus groups with participants at seven local WIC agencies throughout California. This research identified both the barriers and successful community-based strategies for preventing obesity in children under five in low-income and multi-ethnic communities throughout California.
Lessons Learned from Evaluations of Nutrition and Physical Activity Social Marketing Campaigns
UC Davis, Center for the Advanced Study of Nutrition and Social Marketing
In 2000, the University of California, Davis Center for the Advanced Study of Nutrition and Social Marketing commissioned S&A to review the evaluation and social marketing literature pertaining to nutrition and physical activity social marketing campaigns. The resulting paper, Evaluating Nutrition and Physical Activity Social Marketing Campaigns: A Review of the Literature for Use in Community Campaigns, conveyed an understanding of evaluation failures, challenges and successful strategies to overcome these challenges. S&A also served on the Steering Committee for the UC Davis Center.
Cervical Cancer Prevention and Education Initiative
The California Endowment, Los Angeles County Office of Women’s Health, Los Angeles Women’s Foundation
Samuels & Associates was commissioned to evaluate the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Education Initiative, a comprehensive, multi-faceted outreach and education campaign to increase awareness among high-risk, low-income, underserved women of color about the importance of Pap tests in the early detection and prevention of cervical cancer and to increase the number of screenings and treatment services provided to them.
Evaluation of UC Berkeley’s Public Health Doctorate Program
UC Berkeley, School of Public Health
In 2005, Samuels & Associates was contracted to assess how successfully the UC Berkeley DrPH Program achieved its stated goals and the goals of the School of Public Health, satisfied the goals of students, and contributed to the capacity and diversity of public health leaders entering the field of public health.
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