I make a lot of decisions about how money is going to be spent, and I would like to always be able to back it up and say that this is proven, or evidence-based".
(Telleen & Simpson, 2006).
There are many definitions for EBPH and even some variations in its name, one variation is Evidence-informed public health.
“Evidence-informed public health is the process of distilling and disseminating the best available evidence from research, context, experience and using that evidence to inform and improve public health policy and practice” (By National collaborating center for methods and tools in Canada).
The practice of evidence-based public health (EBPH) is an integration of science-based interventions with community preferences for improving population health.
This Venn diagram shows the relationships among 5 concepts. Three circles in the middle of the graphic overlap with each other: 1) “Best available research evidence,” 2) “Resources, including practitioner expertise,” and 3) “Populations characteristics, needs, values, and preferences.” Overlapping these 3 circles and in the center is the circle “Decision-making.” This group of 4 circles is surrounded by “Environment and organizational context” (Jacobs, Gabella, Spring, & Brownson ,2012).
Jacobs JA, Jones E, Gabella BA, Spring B, Brownson RC. Tools for Implementing an Evidence-Based Approach in Public Health Practice. Prev Chronic Dis 2012;9:110324. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd9.110324 .
EBPH consists of 7 steps shown in the pie chart below.
1-Define 2-Search
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In order to define the research question, fourcomponents are to be identified.Population Intervention Comparison Outcome For example, does smoking increase the chances of miscarriage among pregnant women within their first trimester of pregnancy? P: Pregnant women (first trimester of pregnancy) I: Smoking C:No Smoking O: Miscarriage rates |
The 6S pyramid aims to help healthcare practitioners search for reliable information in an effective efficient manner.
For more details over the databases that are used perrform your search strategy, kindly click here. |
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3-Appraise
This step is to assess the quality of study methods to determine the relevancy and reliability of the results. |
4-Synthesize
Upon synthesizing, this is to interpret information and set recommendations for practice. |
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5-Adapt
This is to adapt information into community/populationlocal context. |
6-Implement
Decide and plan on how to implement the adapted evidence research into practice or policy. |
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7-Evaluate
This step is to evaluated how effective the implementation step was.
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For more elaboration, kindly check the following National collaborating center for methods and tools in Canada.
More readings about this topic, please check the papers below.
