A Process Evaluation Framework for a Long-Term Care Garden Program

The purpose of this project is to develop a logic model and process evaluation framework for a therapeutic garden program at Banfield Pavilion, a residential long term care facility located in Vancouver, B.C. A six-step process evaluation design developed by Saunders, Evans, and Joshi (2005) is used to develop the evaluation framework. Steps of the framework include (1) describing the program, (2) describing complete and acceptable delivery of the program, (3) developing the potential list of questions, (4) determining methods, (5) considering the program’s resources, context, and characteristics, and (6) the final process evaluation plan. The logic model connects program elements to concepts drawn from Ulrich’s (1984) stress reduction theory (SRT) and theory of supportive garden design (1999). A central consideration of the evaluation is whether the program should focus more on spontaneous or structured activities and garden interactions. Both the logic model and evaluation framework can be used for the Banfield program and/or other therapeutic garden programs.