Evaluation of Child Health Services: The Interface Between Research and Medical Practice.

This monograph derives from a conference sponsored by the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences. The goals of the conference were (1) to establish channels of communication between health care evaluators from different disciplines and from different countries in the Americas, and (2) to promote an exchange of information and experience in evaluation techniques: comparing approaches, methods, needed resources, difficulties, achievements, and failures. Of primary concern was the need for a current evaluation of maternal and child health services delivery systems and the implications of this evaluation for health professional education in the Americas. The monograph consists of five position papers on child health care, 10 papers on case studies involving different methods of evaluation and different types of child health care programs, followed by discussions, and two papers on uses of evaluation in education. The contributors, representing a variety of perspectives and backgrounds, include experts in evaluation, health care, social science research, education, policymaking, and economics. (Author/SS)