Strategies for Implementing an Evaluation for the BLOOM for Healthy Relationships Program

The issue of adolescent dating violence is a relatively new field of research, but several studies have shown that adolescent dating violence is distinct from adult domestic violence and has its own implications and patterns. Many studies have shown that both males and females appear to be the victims and perpetrators of dating violence, and often times in abusive dating relationships, the perpetration is mutual. Involvement with adolescent dating violence has serious physical and psychological health consequences, and in order to combat this social phenomenon, effective prevention programs are needed. The present study discusses key characteristics of school-based prevention programs that have been shown to be effective, as well as looks specifically at one such prevention program called BLOOM for Healthy Relationships™. The researcher in this study originally set out to conduct a program evaluation of BLOOM, but encountered several obstacles with the approval process that prevented the evaluation from being completed in the available time frame. This report is now framed as a case study that will discuss the necessary resources for preparing to conduct a program evaluation, describe the obstacles encountered in the approval process and make suggestions for future strategies to complete program evaluations of BLOOM.