Respond to at least two colleagues by doing all of the following:

RE: Discussion - Week 7 C O L L A P S E

A logic model can serve as a framework for the evaluation process. (Randolph, 2010) and a tool to ideally assess a program as it is built (Dudley, 2020). The following is a basic logic model and theory of change for an intervention to screen for breast cancer in women without health insurance.

Logic models show component connections of causal relationships and are described as “if-then” connections that lead to planned outcomes for clients or otherwise known as a program’s theory of change (Randolph, 2010). For example, the above diagram shows if grants are received to pay for mammograms, then online registration can be created, women will register for free mammograms, women will get screened for breast cancer, then early detection of breast cancer may happen.

Client Problems, Needs, & Underlying Causes

During the planning stage, the logic model can help emphasize the importance of starting the process of identifying problems in clients, their needs, and the main causes of these problems (Dudley, 2020). The identifying problem for the screening program above is that uninsured women have a much higher risk of dying of breast cancer than those who are insured (Hsu et al., 2017). The client’s needs include getting a mammogram yearly for early detection of cancer. Underlying causes are some clients do not have insurance so they can get their preventative cancer screenings.

Outcomes & Interventions

As part of the logic model, outcomes can be classified as short-term, intermediate, and long-term (Randolph, 2010). Based on the logic model above, a short-term outcome will be more women will understand the risks of breast cancer. A long-term outcome will be early detection of breast cancer. Providing mammogram screenings may improve breast cancer outcomes by finding the disease at earlier stages (Hsu et al., 2017). By providing interventions, such as breast cancer awareness campaigns and mammogram screenings for uninsured women, it is hoped that women who are uninsured will be provided free mammograms for early detection.

References

Dudley, J. R. (2020). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do (3rd ed.) Oxford University Press.

Hsu, C. D., Xiaoyan Wang, Habif, D. V., Ma, C. X., & Johnson, K. J. (2017, August 15). Breast cancer stage variation and survival in association with insurance status and sociodemographic factors in US women 18 to 64 years old. Cancer, 123(16), 3125.

Randolph, K. A. (2010). Logic models. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of social work research methods (2nd ed., pp. 547–562). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.