Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 September 2011
When assessing the effects of a programme one must first consider its objectives. When applied to the improvement of health, the word programme implies an intervention which is sustained, complex, dealing with more than a single aspect of one disease and usually going beyond simple provision of fixed curative facilities. How a programme is assessed will vary with the different components and the underlying purpose of the assessment. It is important to ask just what information is needed and whether or not it needs to be collected on a longitudinal basis.