The Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) evaluation provides an opportunity to demonstrate the impact of community-level prevention of chronic diseases and contribute to the pool of evidence linking the environmental approach to healthy eating and active living outcomes, particularly in low-income communities of color. The evaluation team uses the environmental framework as a foundation for research questions and methods as well as a means to interpret and report findings. The evaluation will use demonstrated achievements and lessons learned to promote long-term sustainability of grantee achievements. The evaluation uses a multi-method design and qualitative and quantitative methodologies to capture the Program's accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned and best practices across sectors. Methods include environmental assessments, surveys and focus groups, individual assessments, and policy tracking and analysis.
The evaluation team is led by Samuels & Associates, the UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health, and UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Health Services. Consultant members of the team are San Francisco State/Abundantia Consulting and Field Research Corporation. A national Evaluation Advisory Committee provides expert counsel on evaluation design and interpretation of findings.
