SIEE Framework Takes Holistic Approach to Evaluation

Posted by randerson on February 17th, 2022 Posted in: Blog

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The NEC employs a Systems-Informed Empowerment Evaluation (SIEE) framework [1]. Over the next few months, the NEC team will be providing more information about the SIEE framework and its effective use in research projects. SIEE is built on the understanding that a diverse set of organizational stakeholders are involved in all aspects of the planning, implementation, and utilization of multi-site and local evaluation plans. The SIEE framework reflects Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory, which states that an individual’s behavior is embedded within several layers of context (social networks, geography, systems, etc.). [2,3] Research has consistently shown that barriers to healthcare and health literacy are driven and sustained by multi-level factors, and any evaluation that fails to consider such levels will likely fall short of achieving a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of health disparities. 

SIEE is our team’s unique combination of existing evaluation frameworks, particularly Systems-Informed Evaluation [4], which allows us to account for the multi-level factors in which programs are nested, and Empowerment Evaluation [5], which is designed to help communities monitor and evaluate their own performance. SIEE is also infused with tenets from other frameworks, including Culturally-Responsive Evaluation (CRE), Transformative Evaluation, and Utilization-Focused Evaluation. Our hybrid approach increases the likelihood that programs will achieve results by enhancing stakeholder capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate their own programs. 

Use of SIEE is critical for any large-scale project, such as the NEC, and for any multi-level environment, such as the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM). Its implementation within the NEC showcases the importance of deliberately informing evaluation planning, implementation, and utilization by creating a dynamic evaluation protocol to consciously account for the diverse needs and perspectives of multiple stakeholders, all of whom will inform evaluation activities and will impact the uptake of evaluation findings to improve programmatic activities. 

Written by Leah Neubauer and Gregory Phillips II

1. Phillips II G, Lindeman P, Bettin E, Beach LB, Adames CN, Stonehouse P, Kern D, Greene GJ. “Integrating Systems Thinking into a Multisite Evaluation: Results from an Organizational Network Survey.” Panel: “Leveraging a Multisite Evaluation to Maximize Community Impact: Merging Empowerment Evaluation with Systems Thinking to Improve LGBT Health Services.” Panel Chair: Gregory Phillips II. American Evaluation Association Conference. Cleveland, OH, November 2018.
2. Bronfenbrenner U. Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1979. 
3. Bronfenbrenner U, Vasta R. Six theories of child development: Revised formulations and current issues. Ecological systems theory1992. p. 187-249.
4. Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation. The evaluation facilitators guide to: Systems Evaluation Protocol. Ithaca, NY2009
5. Fetterman DM, Wandersman A. Empowerment evaluation principles in practice: Guilford Press; 2005.