Evaluation of the Northern Territory’s men’s behaviour change programs

Evaluation aim/s

The focus on “process” meant the evaluations examined how the MBCPs were being delivered, rather than whether they were achieving intended outcomes. Specifically, the evaluations sought to understand how the MBCPs were being delivered in practice, and to compare this with what is understood to be quality practice for MBCPs in the context of the NT.

The evaluations of MBCPs were guided by the following high-level questions:

• How is each MBCP operating in its unique context?
• How integrated is each MBCP with the community and service system?
• How does each MBCP align with relevant standards of quality practice?
• How does each MBCP manage risk and are there any unintended consequences?
• What could be put in place to improve or prepare for future monitoring and evaluation of each MBCP?

Methods

A range of data collection activities were undertaken to answer the key evaluation questions. For both MBCPs, this included interviews with staff and a wide range of stakeholders across the service system, and reviews of existing literature and standards, as well as program activity data, manuals and tools from each provider. For the Tangentyere Council evaluation, additional focus groups and interviews were held with community stakeholders and previous participants of the MBCP and their partners or former partners, as well as a review of a small sample of men’s case files.

For each evaluation, ANROWS held separate sense-making sessions with staff from both organisations, as well as with some key stakeholders, to test findings and recommendations prior to finalisation.