Treatments

In the context of evaluation, treatments refers to programs or other interventions intended to remedy or improve existing conditions. A change in policies or practices can also be called a treatment. Recent examples of treatments that have been evaluated include Early Head Start, welfare reform, and changes in Medicare capitation rates (i.e., pay schedules for various medical procedures). Quantitatively oriented evaluators often refer to estimating treatment effects; that is, to assessing how much of a difference a given treatment makes on selected outcomes. More generally, evaluation often involves assessing the implementation, effectiveness, efficiency, reach, fairness, and acceptability of a new treatment relative to current conditions or of alternative treatments.