Moving toward Equity

This toolkit is designed to provide partners with information about how to use evaluation to move towards equity. Each section covers a different element of evaluation, including information on how to tie evaluation into every step of assessment, planning, implementation and continuous quality improvement processes. 

The toolkit includes guidance, tools and resources on:

• Setting the stage for evaluation through assessment and planning
• Equitable approaches to evaluation
• Developing an equitable evaluation plan
• Using evaluation results for continuous quality improvement
• Collecting data for evaluation 

Why is this toolkit needed?

Since 2020, 32 local governments and health departments in Ohio have declared racism a public health crisis, acknowledging the severe impact that racism has on the health of our communities. Research has also drawn connections between other forms of discrimination (such as ableism, ageism, classism, homophobia and transphobia) and health. Although there is a growing understanding that not all Ohioans have an equal opportunity to live a long and healthy life, there is much still to be done to ensure Ohioans of color, LGBTQ+ Ohioans, Ohioans with disabilities, Ohioans with low incomes, Ohioans living in urban, rural and Appalachian areas, and others can thrive in our state.

An important part of this work is to evaluate and measure if our efforts to achieve equity are successful. Evaluation tells us if what we’re doing is making a difference. It gives us the information needed to understand where we need to change, refocus or intensify our approaches. Perhaps more importantly, evaluation is also a process that can build trust, collaboration and accountability.

These following tools are available for download in one convenient excel spreadsheet:

• Equitable evaluation checklist
• Logic model template
• Target setting worksheet
• Sources of publicly available disaggregated data
• Data quality checklist
• Equity considerations for primary data collection

Download tools

Who is this Toolkit for?

This Toolkit is for anyone who is dedicated to advancing equity, passionate about achieving results, and committed to stewarding resources. This may include:

• Community coalitions
• Healthcare providers
• School-based health centers
• Health plans and Medicaid managed care organizations
• Human services nonprofits
• Local government
• Public health organizations
• Philanthropy
• Schools
• State agencies and commissions
• Other local agencies and nonprofit organizations

Resources: 

• Practical Strategies for Culturally Competent Evaluation, CDC
• Achieving Equity with Results Based Accountability, Clear Impact
• Good Health Counts: Measurement and Evaluation for Health Equity, Prevention Institute
• Using a Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation Approach to Guide Research and Evaluation, Mathematica
• Doing evaluation in service of racial equity, Every Child Thrives, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• The Data Equity Framework, We All Count