Support
Education
Advocacy
Patrick Roberts
I am NAMI NH because…
even though I am not out working in the community as often as many of the other NAMI NH staff, I see my role as being critical to helping support the work that they do with the families, consumers, and professionals in the state affected by mental illness.
iQ iiiWhat is your role with the organization and how long have you been here?
My role at NAMI NH is to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs and to identify areas where we can enhance the quality/effectiveness of those programs. I have been with the organization for just over four and half years.
iQ iii You play such an intricate role within NAMI NH and suicide prevention efforts for the state. What is your favorite part of working within different programs and also collaborating with outside agencies?
Working with so many different programs and agencies gives me the opportunity to be involved in such a wide variety of of projects. Because of this, I am often doing something different each day. I love this variety because it keeps me very busy and lets me regularly learn about new things. I also have the opportunity to work with individuals from various programs and agencies which let me experience many different points of view.
iQ iii What advice would you give to an organization trying to develop an evaluation component for its programs? Is there an easy way to start this process?
The first thing I would recommend to an organization trying to develop evaluations for their programs would be to consider two questions. What do they want to get out of the evaluation (i.e., Do they want to know if participants were satisfied, whether they learned the material, or whether they have met specific objectives?) and how will they measure this (e.g., paper surveys, online surveys, focus groups, interviews, etc.)? One of the easiest ways to begin the process would be to speak with agencies who are already doing program evaluations to get pointers on how they started out. Also, start small – it is easier to fine tune your process on a small pilot test than on a full scale implementation.
iQ iii We all can agree that we have had enough of this cold weather, and are looking forward to a beautiful New Hampshire summer. Any seasonal hobbies and activities that you are looking forward to pursuing?
Well, I do enjoy the cold weather, but it will be nice to be able to get outside for an extended period of time without a winter jacket, gloves and boots. This summer I hope to be able to get out and do some hiking/geocaching in addition to relaxing by the pool.
