FRAMEWORKS FOR DATA-DRIVEN EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY-BASED CHRONIC DISEASE INTERVENTIONS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW AND PROPOSED ANALYTICAL ROADMAP

Community-based chronic disease prevention programs operate in complex, multi-component environments where robust evaluation is critical yet, their integration into a coherent, data-driven, equity-centered analytical approach remains underdeveloped, particularly in United States community and safety-net settings. This narrative review synthesizes the published literature on evaluation frameworks and data-driven methodologies applied to community-based chronic disease intervention programs. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, grey literature from public health agencies, and implementation science frameworks published between 2020 and 2026, sources were identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar using terms spanning chronic disease evaluation, community-based intervention frameworks, implementation science, data-driven evaluation, and health equity. Five major framework categories were identified: logic model and theory-of-change approaches; health service quality models including the Donabedian structure-process-outcome framework; chronic disease management frameworks led by the Chronic Care Model; implementation science frameworks centered on RE-AIM; and equity-centered participatory evaluation models designed for vulnerable and indigenous populations. Across frameworks, common evaluation elements included inputs and context, process fidelity, outputs and reach, and short- and long-term outcomes. Persistent gaps included inconsistent use of standardized indicators, limited economic evaluation, underinvestment in sustainment and scale-up assessment, and inadequate representation of equity dimensions in analytical design. No single existing framework fully addresses the analytical needs of data-driven community chronic disease prevention evaluation in diverse United States settings. An integrated roadmap combining theory-based frameworks, mixed-methods designs, equity-centered indicators, and explicit sustainment assessment is needed, and is proposed here to strengthen the evidence base for community chronic disease prevention and inform national policy decisions.