Outcome Harvesting: A Novel Methodology for Evaluating Complex Global Health Interventions

Outcome Harvesting: A Novel Methodology for Evaluating Complex Global Health Interventions

Global health interventions, especially those that focus on social and behavior change, capacity strengthening, health systems, or integrated/cross-sectoral programs, are often implemented under complex circumstances. Selecting appropriate ways to measure change within and across organizations, institutions, or systems is especially challenging. Conventional evaluation approaches (e.g. pre/post surveys) fail to capture a complete picture of change in complex global health interventions. In 2013, USAID named Outcome Harvesting (OH) an innovative complexity-aware monitoring and evaluation method. The USAID-funded global project, Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) applied OH to evaluate capacity strengthening activities for improved social and behavior change. This session will introduce OH to participants and engage them in interactive activities and discussions which walk participants through several steps of the OH process.