Advancing evaluation practice in health promotion

Program evaluation has long been recognised as a core competencyfor health promotion practitioners,1,2reflecting the vital contributionthat this evaluation can make to the design, impact and sustainabilityof our policies and strategies. Over the past three decades, severalpopular textbooks3,4and a range of guides and frameworks5–7havebeen produced to facilitate appropriate and high-quality evaluationin this field. Given this history, which spans much of thecontemporary health promotion movement, itis of interest to see therenewed and critical attention to evaluation practice, methods, useand capacity by health promotion agencies and practitioners.The questions of what is generating this interest, what has beenrevealed by recent reviews and analysis, and what further learningand resources may strengthen evaluation, warrant considerationin this special issue of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia on‘Advancing evaluation practice’.