Adaption of Knowledge and Participation of Stakeholders in Three Public Health Interventions at Local Government Level in Denmark

Maja Bertram,Arja Aro,Gabriel Gulis,Anne Wiechmann

doi:10.15344/2456-3498/2016/115

Abstract

Background:When implementing public health interventions in practice, it is recommended to use research evidence and to include relevant stakeholders. This should ensure effective interventions but it can be challenging. This study investigates the use of knowledge and inclusion of stakeholders in three different public health interventions at the local government level in Denmark and discusses strategies for future improvements in the use of research evidence. Method:Based on a previous assessment of all public health interventions in Varde Municipality using the European Community Health Promotion Indicator Development Model (EUHPID model), three different types of interventions (one Health Promotion, one Health Protection, and one Disease Prevention) were chosen for a case study analysis. The data consisted of document reviews and interviews. Data were analysed by content analysis using a framework for Evidence Based Practice as a guiding tool. Discussion of strategies for future improvements was based on experiences from previous studies. Results:In the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention interventions, knowledge of community characteristics and knowledge based on practitioners’ expertise were the most applied types of knowledge. In the Health Protection intervention, evidence from research was also used. Various stakeholders were included in all interventions. Barriers for the use of research evidence were lack of access to reported research, lack of time and competences to identify, adapt and apply the most relevant research evidence. The perceived facilitators for using evidence from research were access to summaries of research results or guidelines based on research and collaboration with researchers. Conclusion:Very limited knowledge on how to improve the use of research evidence in such interventions exists, however it seems like an active collaboration between research and practice is a promising strategy. There is a need for more research on this topic taking the role of various stakeholders into account.

Highlights

It is well known that the use of research evidence in working with public health interventions in practice is a challenge [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Very limited knowledge on how to improve the use of research evidence in such interventions exists, it seems like an active collaboration between research and practice is a promising strategy
Based on a model for Evidence Based Practice [8], this study has investigated the use of different types of knowledge and inclusion of various stakeholders in three different types of public health interventions in a Danish municipality

Summary

Introduction

It is well known that the use of research evidence in working with public health interventions in practice is a challenge [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The use of research evidence in local public health work takes place in real life context of political and other societal priorities and activities [8,9,10]. This context makes it complicated to balance the inclusion of research evidence and other sources of relevant knowledge. Local public health interventions aiming at promoting and/or protecting health and preventing diseases need to be carried out in collaboration between and across sectors to be most effective [1114]. Research evidence and other relevant knowledge and information come from multiple sources [8, 15]

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Conclusion