Explaining the Evidence-Based Policy in Educating and Promoting Students’ Health: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Background. Evidence-based policymaking is a type of policy based on valid, timely, and appropriate evidence. This study aimed to explain the evidence-based policy in education and health promotion to students. Methods. The method of the present research was a narrative review. The statistical population included 114 Persian and English articles published between 2010 and 2022 which were indexed in ERIC, ScienceDirect, Sage, SID, Irandoc, Magiran, and Medline databases. The search was done using evidence-based policy, health education evidence, health promotion, health education policy, educational policy and health key words. The search was conducted using the SPIDER framework due to the speciality of the subject being studied. Using Downs and Black checklist for quality assessment, the final research sample included 20 references selected through screening. Thematic analysis was used to codify the texts using the Sternberg method. Results. We extracted 59 concepts and six themes based on coding of the findings. Evidence-based policymaking in educating and promoting student health can be categorized into six themes: the necessity for evidence-based policymaking, the characteristics of evidence-based policymaking, the prerequisites of evidence-based policymaking, the impetus for evidence-based policymaking, the barriers to evidence-based policymaking, and the consequences of evidence-based policymaking. Conclusion. Application of evidence-based policymaking in educating and promoting students’ health, based on global trends, technologies and strategies can lead to efficient education and health promotion policies. This study provided useful, practical guidelines such as filling the theoretical gap, ensuring clarity and motivation, influencing political decisions, and building trust among researchers, the scientific community, and other policy stakeholders to use evidence-based policymaking effectively in students’ health promotion.