The Institute of Interdisciplinary Health Research

Play Marin approached IIHR for guidance and execution of a program evaluation. The team met with the community partner to develop an evaluation to measure goals and objectives defined by Play Marin. By using a mixed-methods approach, the research team interviewed and surveyed the community to provide evidence of success in alumni of the program. While members of the community shared stories and case-by-case successes, Play Marin needed expertise in evidence-based approaches to better position themselves for future funding opportunities.

In April 2024, we were contacted by several colleagues at Marin Health and Human Services (HHS) who needed help designing and implementing a program evaluation of a life-saving skills course (Revive) at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (San Quentin) over the summer months of 2024. The Revive course was designed by Marin HHS to deliver life saving skills training to Marin community members. The Revive course will include CPR training, general first aid training with a particular interest in stopping excessive bleeding, training to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) device and instructions and demonstrations of Narcan delivery. To date, they have successfully trained over 850 members of the community with skills to give 911 more time to save lives. 

Concurrently with this success, inmates at San Quentin raised concerns about their ability and need for these same life saving skills. Their need was publicized when one inmate told a story about saving his cell mate’s life in a thwarted suicide attempt was made after hours. His ability to stop the bleeding and call for help was commended, drew attention to the need for these skills at San Quentin, and convinced the administration to make a change. 

This research will work alongside Marin HHS as they modify the Revive program to suit the needs of this new target population at San Quentin. We will develop a set of measurement tools to test whether the course is an effective and advantageous policy going forward. Additionally, we intend to assist Marin HHS with conducting a program evaluation of the Revive course.

To hear the stories of four men who were part of San Quentin’s death row, check out Episode 120: Slam That Door from Ear Hustle.

Rites of Passage Institute (ROPI) is a  community-based organization offering school based programming, camps and leadership training rooted in principles of traditional rites of passage in Byron Bay Australia. Through rites of passage based programming ROPI helps participants strengthen their sense of self, learn critical skills for personal and interpersonal development and set goals for a healthy vision for the future. While the organization collected data on participant satisfaction for years, they were not collecting data aligned with their intended outcomes. Drs. George and McDermott have partnered with ROPI since 2022 to build their capacity for program evaluation, improvement and research collaborations. They have generally supported ROPI by providing research guidance and resources, developing protocols, and supporting data collection and analysis. Specifically, they have helped to identify validated instruments for data collection, helped create survey instruments and helped to implement process and outcome evaluation measures for ROPI program improvement.