6

Reflections on Workshop Themes

Carrie Farmer (RAND Corporation) offered closing reflections at the end of the workshop. Drawing on key themes from across the sessions, she synthesized the discussions into four main areas of focus: program design, program implementation, program evaluation, and defining and communicating success. Her remarks highlighted recurring challenges, promising strategies, and considerations for strengthening suicide prevention grant programs.

PROGRAM DESIGN

Farmer highlighted that program design should reflect a clear understanding of the problem being addressed, with specific attention to how target populations are defined. She noted that some workshop participants stressed the need to be intentional about population definitions, including age ranges and population subgroups, to avoid overly broad or ambiguous eligibility criteria. Farmer also observed that there was considerable discussion about the challenge of balancing grant structure and flexibility. Grant programs must be structured enough to provide accountability and support implementation, while also being flexible enough to accommodate different organizational capacities and local contexts.

Another important discussion centered around the length of grants and sustainability of outcomes, Farmer added. She highlighted lessons learned from the Garrett Lee Smith program in particular related to the positive effects of longer-term funding on program impacts. In addition, activity timelines must incorporate sufficient time for outreach and marketing, evaluation, and communication and dissemination.

PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

On program implementation, Farmer underscored the importance of robust and responsive technical assistance. Many speakers throughout the workshop noted that implementation success often hinges on the availability of support tailored to grantees’ needs and experience levels. Farmer pointed to the suggestion that technical assistance should begin early in the grant life cycle, ideally during the application phase, and continue throughout implementation. She also noted the value of peer-to-peer learning and structured opportunities for grantees to connect and share experiences. These interactions, she summarized, can foster a sense of community and support problem-solving.

Farmer reflected on the day’s discussions related to data collection. There is a need for common data elements, as well as ensuring that the data collected are utilized and avoiding collection of data that are not needed. In addition, it is important to think through how to prioritize data that can be used at multiple levels, so they are beneficial to the program overall and also beneficial to individual grantees. Centralized data repositories may be helpful for achieving these goals.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Farmer reflected on the workshop’s discussion around evaluation, observing that evaluation was consistently described as most valuable when designed from the outset of a program. She emphasized that evaluation plans should be proportional to the scope and goals of the program, and that grantees should have access to guidance on how to integrate evaluation meaningfully. Multiple speakers suggested that funders consider offering tools such as standard logic model templates or curated lists of process and outcome measures to support grantees in this area.

DEFINING AND COMMUNICATING SUCCESS

Farmer addressed how success is defined and communicated within grant programs. She observed that several participants made the point that success should be defined in ways that are both rigorous and realistic, accounting for the community context and the maturity of the implementing organization. There are multiple audiences for this work, she added, and it is important to understand who the key audiences are; what their values and beliefs are; what programs want each audience to think, feel, or do; and what they need to know to change what they think, feel, or do. She highlighted a critical question about who should communicate program results—the answer depends on who the audience is and what you are