Zeitschrift für Evaluation: Issue What Difference Does Participation in Training Make?

To address societal change, adequate capacity-building measures are necessary, especially educational measures in health promotion (HP). The aims of this study are twofold: It explores on the one hand how HP competencies can be measured and quantified, and on the other hand how training courses in HP help to change them and which factors are associated with possible changes. Using a pre-post training design, 778 participants in an Austrian training programme for HP rated their competencies in this area using a self-assessment instrument. The applied latent change model showed an average increase in competencies, although participants benefited to different degrees in their perception. The inter-individual differences in (changes to) intra-individual competencies varied depending on individual and organisational factors and were related to the evaluation of the training. The results thus point to the relevance of the individual and the context, contributing to a better understanding of training-relevant mechanisms, processes and components. This model opens up new possibilities for research into effectiveness and transfer research. Its application can contribute to the creation of high-quality training measures and to developing the necessary professional competencies.

Keywords
Health promotion, CompHP framework, training evaluation, latent difference scores