Program Evaluation for Exercise Leaders

In today's competitive fitness market, successful fitness practitioners constantly strive to attract and keep clients, deliver high-quality, and maximize participant benefits. Program evaluation helps you make confident, educated decisions based on systematically collected information to meet these goals.

Program Evaluation for Exercise Leaders is a valuable resource that guides exercise leaders step-by-step through evaluation in areas such as project planning and data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This manual presents concepts in non technical language and focuses on a practical application of evaluation techniques.

Special tools to assist you include the following:
-9 scenarios that illustrate the usefulness of evaluation for different programs with diverse clientele

-a 12-step guide for conducting focus groups

-17 worksheets and prototypes developed specifically for collecting and assessing data for exercise programs
Program Evaluation for Exercise Leaders begins by exploring the reasons program evaluation is critical. You'll learn to examine, streamline, and improve your record systems to collect the best available information. This resource also addresses the challenges exercise leaders face in attracting and retaining clients and tailoring services to meet needs and expectations.

Next, the book details various approaches to program evaluation including needs assessment, formative, implementation, process, outcome, and cost evaluation. This resource also provides practical guidelines to help you select the tools to obtain credible information and the approach best suited to your program's needs.

Finally, the book covers the mechanics of evaluation and helps you get started. Obtaining client consent, conducting focus groups, and managing information are just a few of the topics covered. Exercise practitioners also will learn how to interpret and document data as well as various methods of presenting the findings.

Program Evaluation for Exercise Leaders is a self-contained resource that clearly addresses every step of program evaluation. You'll acquire the necessary skills to conduct your own evaluations, and return to this resource time and again as you continuously fine-tune your program.