Measuring success - Pharmaceutical Drugs and Your Community

Pharmaceutical Drugs and Your Community activities may aim to influence outcomes relating to individuals, families or the community. Some activities will address outcomes across several categories.

For example, a program that empowers parents may have an impact of increasing a parent’s knowledge and understanding of pharmaceutical drugs and increasing their confidence to role-model positive behaviour towards medication to their children.

Some example processes, impact/outcome measures and tools to measure success of pharmaceutical drug activities are provided. You may find these a useful starting point for measuring the success of your approach. Your measures of success should align with the objectives of your activities.

Process measure

• Establish (xx number) partnerships with (insert number) community organisations to plan, develop and deliver (xx number) (select – awareness raising/information provision AND/OR skill building workshop) activity in (xx time) months.
• Work with (xx number) community organisations over (xx number) months to conduct (xx number) awareness raising activities aimed at (xx target audience).
• (xx number) partnerships established with healthcare service providers/local organisations in the community in (xx number) months to engage (xx target audience).
• Work with (xx number) community organisations to conduct (xx number) training or information sessions with (xx number) of members of (xx target audience) within an (xx number) month period.
• Post awareness raising campaign or education/skill building workshop on pharmaceutical drugs: (survey completed by target audience or participants pre/post awareness raising activity/training)

Impact/outcome measures

Because of exposure to an awareness raising activity or attending an education/skill building workshop:

• (xx number) number of (xx target audience) are more aware of alternatives and complimentary therapies to pharmaceutical drugs.
• (xx number) number of (xx target audience) demonstrate an increase in knowledge of harms with associated pharmaceutical drugs.
• Because of exposure to an awareness raising campaign OR attending an education/skill building workshop (xx number) participants reported a decrease in the belief pharmaceutical drugs are ‘safe’ because they’re legal and/or prescribed

Short-term impacts of pharmaceutical drug awareness raising campaign OR education/skill building workshop (one month after training):

• As a result of being exposed to an awareness raising campaign OR attending an education/skill building workshop, (xx number) participants continue to demonstrate an increase in knowledge of potential harms associated with pharmaceutical drugs.
• As a result of being exposed to an awareness raising campaign OR attending a pharmaceutical drug education/skill building workshop, (xx number) of participants are aware of alternative and complementary therapies.

Longer-term impacts of pharmaceutical drug awareness raising campaign or education/skill building workshop (six months after being exposed to an awareness raising campaign OR attending an education/skill building workshop):

• As a result of being exposed to the pharmaceutical drug awareness raising campaign or attending an education/skill building workshop, (xx number) of participants are aware of alternative and complementary therapies.

Tools to measure success

• Feedback sheets or questionnaires (pre and post)
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Verbal feedback from participants, facilitators
• Notes taken by a dedicated note taker
• Document analysis – tracking and monitoring the number of resources distributed
• Focus groups (e.g. with healthcare and service providers)
• Partnerships analysis
• Local population health data (e.g. community survey data).

Next steps

Other things you can do to support your community:

1. Work with your community partners to further connect and strengthen your community: see Strong and Connected Communities toolkit.
2. Work with your community partners to educate older adults about alcohol and other drugs, including pharmaceutical drugs: see Alcohol, Other Drugs and Older People toolkit.
3. Work with your community partners to ensure evidence-based education on alcohol and other drugs, including pharmaceuticals, as part of the school curriculum: see Education in Schools toolkit.
4. Participate in a community liquor licensing activity: see Community Participation in Liquor Licensing toolkit for WA, SA, ACT, VIC, TAS, NSW, and QLD.