Service User Input:

Fact or Fiction? The Evaluation of the Trauma Program, Department of Rehabilitation, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Abstract

This study explores the current trend of incorporating service user data into program evaluations. Using a case study approach and citing three years of evaluation data of the Trauma Program at Sault Ste. Marie General Hospital, northern Ontario, the author challenges the traditional assumptions that promote service user data in program evaluations. The main conclusion is that although service user data is touted as being important, its political importance far outweighs its evaluation value and utility, in particular with hard-to-access samples. Implications are directed toward evaluators, administrators, and policy makers.