Abstract
Timely implementation of principles of evidence-based public health (EBPH) is critical for bridging the gap between discovery of new knowledge and its application. Public health organizations need sufficient capacity (the availability of resources, structures, and workforce to plan, deliver, and evaluate the preventive dose of an evidence-based intervention) to move science to practice. We review principles of EBPH, the importance of capacity building to advance evidence-based approaches, promising approaches for capacity building, and future areas for research and practice. Although there is general agreement among practitioners and scientists on the importance of EBPH, there is less clarity on the definition of evidence, how to find it, and how, when, and where to use it. Capacity for EBPH is needed among both individuals and organizations. Capacity can be strengthened via training, use of tools, technical assistance, assessment and feedback, peer networking, and incentives. Modest investments in EBPH capacity building will foster more effective public health practice.
Highlights
The gap between discovery of new research findings and their application in public health and policy settings is extensive in time lapse, completeness, and fidelity [86, 100]
We need new approaches for disseminating research, an increased emphasis on practice-based evidence, and a greater focus on external validity, all of which will help us to understand whether evidence-based public health (EBPH) approaches work, for whom, why, and at what cost
Efforts to build capacity in public health practice have probably focused too much on whether evidence-based interventions (EBI) are or are not being used, which puts the entire onus on the practitioners who often find that the published evidence does not fit their population or circumstances
Summary
The gap between discovery of new research findings and their application in public health and policy settings is extensive in time lapse, completeness, and fidelity [86, 100]. Systematic reviews summarize large bodies of research and provide decision makers (practitioners, policy makers) a useful array of EBIs from which to prioritize resources and plan programs [17, 63]. Participants in a European public health training program reported that 56% of programs were evidence-based [67]. These findings compare closely across these regions (North America, Europe) and with studies of the use of EBIs in clinical settings [122, 134] (see the sidebar titled Terms and Definitions for more description of key terms used throughout this article)
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