Cochrane update: building capacity in evidence-informed decision-making to improve public health

Abstract

A range of public health interventions operate internationally, informed by research evidence, professional experience and stakeholder preferences. Practitioners and decision-makers have a significant role in facilitating the use of data and research evidence to inform practice and services, but they are faced by individualand organizational-level challenges such as time and skills for accessing evidence, and low value placed on research in the workplace culture. Realizing the effectiveness of investments to promote health and prevent disease may be limited if implementation is not evidence informed, and if rigorous evaluation is not conducted to verify impacts. Varying degrees of support is available to build capacity for evidence-informed decision-making among the public health workforce. Knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) strategies have been proposed to support evidence-informed decisionmaking (EIDM), and capacity building is an example of one such strategy. As part of a suite of KTE strategies, the Cochrane Public Health Group (CPHG) delivers training courses to support the use of systematic reviews in public health decision-making. The CPHG has designed and delivered tailored EIPH short courses since 2005. This has often been done in collaboration with others locally (such as local authorities and councils, health promotion agencies and nongovernment organizations), and internationally (such as the International Union of Health Promotion and Education, the World Health Organization), to reflect the specific needs of various targeted audiences. Whilst training programmes that aim to increase knowledge and skills for evidence-informed decision-making show promise, few have been rigorously evaluated in complex decision-making settings like public health, and thus it has been difficult to determine their overall usefulness. This paper describes the methods of implementation and evaluation of EIPH training courses by the CPHG, reporting participant experiences, as well as the impact the courses have had on individuals’ capacity for accessing and using evidence to inform programmes and policies aiming to improve public health. In doing so, this paper aims to stimulate discussion about how international efforts to improve the exchange in knowledge, quality of research, uptake of evidence into practice and co-generation of contemporary knowledge, could be addressed through ongoing improvements in training and capacity building.