• Capacity building is a strategy and capacity gain is an outcome

• Capacity building as a strategy needs to be evaluated so that judgements can be made about their effectiveness

• Evaluating capacity has been a much neglected aspect of PHN practice but there is an increasing body of intelligence and useful evaluating tools

EvaluationEvaluating Capacity Gains

Evaluating Capacity Gains

Evaluating Capacity Gains

Evaluating Capacity Gains

• The key issues and challenges in measuring capacity include:

Multiple understandings of terms - shared terminology cannot be assumed when working at multiple levels or across sectors → data collection and analysis issues

Evolving understanding of capacity – the definition and nature of capacity is evolving → measurement tools can be lengthy and complex

Invisibility of capacity building - Community empowerment is explicit in health promotion creating a culture of invisibility around capacity building → difficulty in recognising, describing and measuring capacity building

Dynamic contexts - contextual aspects can influence the measurement of capacity: staff turnover, health system renewal, conflicting perspectives, conflicting personalities etc

Challenges in Measuring Capacity