ABSTRACT
It is now widely recognized that an understanding of evaluation methodology is essential for all nursing and healthcare professionals. It is necessary for nurses, midwives and health visitors to be able to evaluate their own practice and the practice of others. Not all practitioners will want to become researchers; however, they should be able to appreciate the evaluation methods of others and understand how to incorporate evaluation findings into their own professional practice. All practitioners are being encouraged to stand back and reflect on the services they are providing. They must question the evidence base for these services and ask whether the delivery of these services is efficient and effective for the communities and individuals they serve. The criteria for evaluation of health, social, environmental and economic policies and programmes are changing. Many governments are now adopting an understanding of health that embraces issues of equity and inequality and the significance of social and environmental determinants. Without tools and methods to assess the health impact of policies and programmes we cannot assess which strategies work best to achieve beneficial outcomes.
