Examining Meta-Analytic Approaches For Evaluating Multi-Year Wellness Program Impact: An Example From The Health And Human Service Arena

Abstract

The current investigation examines the use of meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of a community-wide health care initiative across a four-year period. This community-wide initiative began in an effort to create a “healthy community” in a small mid-western city. This multi-level, longitudinal study incorporates the use of meta-analysis in an effort to examine treatment effects across the areas of knowledge of health issues, reported healthy behaviors, and clinical measures. Issues regarding the challenges associated with the synthesis of different types of effect size measures across time, as well as concerns associated with multi-site repeated measure responses, are presented. Results of the effect size analyses are presented using odds ratios.