Evidence-Based Public Health

Abstract Ideally, public health practitioners always incorporate scientific evidence in making management decisions, developing policies, and implementing programs. However, in reality, these decisions are often based on short-term demands rather than long-term study, and policies and programs are sometimes developed around anecdotal evidence. In addressing these issues, many factors may lead to a more evidence-based approach to decision-making, including enhanced individual skills, wider use of data and analytic tools, and a more favorable organizational climate. To enhance evidence-based practice, this book provides practical guidance on how to choose, carry out, and evaluate evidence-based programs and policies in public health settings. Evidence-Based Public Health deals not only with finding and using scientific evidence but also with implementation and evaluation of interventions that generate new evidence on effectiveness. Because all these topics are broad and require multidisciplinary skills and perspectives, each chapter covers the basic issues and provides multiple examples to illustrate important concepts. A large part of the book covers a sequential framework for addressing public health issues, including conducting a community assessment, quantifying the issue, developing an initial issue statement, searching the scientific literature and using systematic reviews, developing and prioritizing intervention options, planning for program and policy implementation, economic evaluation, evaluating the program or policy, and disseminating evidence. An indispensable volume for professionals, students, and researchers in the public health sciences and preventive medicine, this new and updated edition of Evidence-Based Public Health bridges research and evidence with policies and the practice of public health.