Troubleshooting Logic Models Developing a practical road map for identifying where you are now and where you hope to be in the future. Muskie School of Public Service Sara Kahn-Troster, MPH Maine Health Access Foundation: Rural Health Grantee Meeting Bethel, Maine November 7, 2018 1

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center What is a logic model? A logic model: Is a visualization of how you believe your program will work. Helps you to see the logical connections between goals and objectives, strategies and activities, and outputs and outcomes.

Why Create a Logic Model? Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Why Create a Logic Model? A logic model is a systematic and visual way to present the perceived relationships among: the resources you have to operate your project or organization; the activities you plan to provide; the goals, changes, or results you hope to achieve. Does not necessarily represent reality!

Why Create a Logic Model? Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Why Create a Logic Model? Components of your Accelerating Rural Health Transformation work plan: Activity/timeframe Responsible party Benchmarks and measures: how will success be determined? Outputs as well as short and intermediate term outcomes?

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Theory of Change What population level condition are we trying to change? (result statement) Why does this condition exist, both generally and in your community? (root cause analysis) What are we going to do to address these factors? (i.e., strategies) programs, trainings, alignment, changes to policy and practice, etc.?

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Program vs population Program: the people that your initiative serves directly Population: everyone in your community You are only responsible for the former, even when your initiative impacts the latter.

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Goals and Objectives Goal = overall mission/purpose Objective = specific and measurable steps that lead to that goal Measurable objectives: who, what, where, by how much, when? SMART: Smart, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Bound

Process vs. outcome objectives Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Process vs. outcome objectives Process objectives: what a program intends to do in order to achieve the desired outcomes service or product units Outcome objectives: what tangible results will occur due to the program knowledge gain; attitude change; skill development; behavior change

Components of a Logic Model Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Components of a Logic Model Inputs/ Resources Strategies/ Activities Outputs Outcomes: short Outcomes: intermediate Outcomes: long and population

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Inputs / Resources What you need to operate your program or implement your initiative. Staff Funding Participants Program partners Specific tools Infrastructure

Strategies / Activities Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Strategies / Activities What your program does with the resources. Events Trainings Advocacy Outreach Technical Assistance Monitoring Publications Relationship development

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Outputs Your program’s service or product units In other words, your process measures! Answers: How do we know we are doing the work? Examples include: # participants # of meetings held # of materials developed

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Outcomes: short-term Changes in knowledge, skills, beliefs, or perceptions Timeframe: 1-2 years Short-term outcomes are where your program has the most direct impact.

Outcomes: intermediate Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Outcomes: intermediate Changes in behaviors, practices, policies, or systems Timeframe: 3-5 years Intermediate outcomes are pieces that your project can influence strongly but not exclusively. Short and medium-term outcomes = your outcome measures!!

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Outcomes: long-term Changes in long term conditions for program participants and the overall population Timeframe: 5+ years Your project is one piece of the puzzle helping to make these changes for program participants and, more broadly, for your community.

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Outputs vs outcomes Outputs: directly under your program’s control What tells you that you have completed the work as planned. Outcomes: the changes that your program influences but does not control Changes or benefits that result from outputs Harder to control the farther out they are

Theory of Change, Revisited Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Theory of Change, Revisited If the components of your logic model make sense, they will fit into your theory of change: Long-term: What will success look like? Intermediate: What behaviors, practices, and systems will change? Short-term: What knowledge, skills, capacity, or perceptions will change? Outputs: What will tell you if you have completed the work you have planned?

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center MeHAF Work Plan You have developed your measurable objectives (both process and outcome) You have figured out your activities You have developed your outputs and short and intermediate outcomes You know they all work together!

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Data Collection Do you know how you’re going to track your outputs and outcomes? What data do you have that you are currently collecting? What data do you have that has already been collected? What data will you need to collect? How?

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Questions?

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center With many thanks to: Sarah Goan, Data Innovation Project John Gale, Maine Rural Health Research Center

Muskie School of Public Service Maine Rural Health Research Center Contact Information Sara Kahn-Troster, MPH Maine Rural Health Research Center Muskie School of Public Service University of Southern Maine sara.kahntroster@maine.edu 22