The mixed methods body of work began with a workshop at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, entitled The Application of Mixed Methods Designs in Public Health Program Evaluation. Panelists included Meredith Smith (ISPE), Sandy-Asari Hogan (SAAPHI), Susan M. Jack, Robin Taylor Wilson (APHA-Epi), and Mark Oremus (Chair).

The panelists then drafted Mixed Methods Research to Meet the Challenges of Public Health Program Evaluation adopted by the INEP Board on 17 June 2020. The document is currently out for publication, and will be released widely once available. All members and expert advisors may view the adopted document at the Members Only page.

Evaluation of public health program impact is vital for identifying real-world effectiveness, for efficiently allocating limited public health resources, and for maximizing the return on public health investments. Given the aphorism “start with the end goal in mind,” the optimal program implementation design begins with a clear vision of program evaluation at inception—well in advance of implementation. For evaluations to be maximally informative, results should provide a comprehensive understanding of the process of program implementation, how implementation is related to outcomes, and the key contextual factors affecting both. Mixed methods designs, which combine both qualitative and quantitative studies, are ideally suited to provide such insights. Attention to contextual factors is important for successful implementation of evidence-based public health practice.

Currently, there is a dearth of Type 3 public health evidence (i.e., contextual adaptations of nationally-recognized programs) for many intervention programs—particularly evidence regarding the implementation of such programs in diverse communities, and application of mixed methods designs in public health research and program evaluation has been limited. In this commentary, we argue that mixed methods designs are critical to the design and evaluation of public health interventions and reference two illustrative case studies. We discuss key analytic approaches in mixed methods designs, and identify resources for mixed methods research. We call for increased collaboration between qualitative and quantitative research teams to improve the evaluation of public health interventions in multiple contexts.

INEP PUBLICATIONS:
Mixed Methods Research to Meet the Challenges of Public Health Program Evaluation is currently under review for publication. Lead authors Meredith Smith (ISPE), Sandy-Asari Hogan (SAAPHI), Susan M. Jack, Robin Taylor Wilson (APHA-Epi), and Mark Oremus (Chair)