Abstract
BackgroundMovement towards evidence-based practices in many fields suggests that public health (PH) challenges may be better addressed if credible information about health risks and effective PH practices is readily available. However, research has shown that many PH information needs are unmet. In addition to reviewing relevant literature, this study performed a comprehensive review of existing information resources and collected data from two representative PH groups, focusing on identifying current practices, expressed information needs, and ideal systems for information access.MethodsNineteen individual interviews were conducted among employees of two domains in a state health department – communicable disease control and community health promotion. Subsequent focus groups gathered additional data on preferences for methods of information access and delivery as well as information format and content. Qualitative methods were used to identify themes in the interview and focus group transcripts.ResultsInformants expressed similar needs for improved information access including single portal access with a good search engine; automatic notification regarding newly available information; access to best practice information in many areas of interest that extend beyond biomedical subject matter; improved access to grey literature as well as to more systematic reviews, summaries, and full-text articles; better methods for indexing, filtering, and searching for information; and effective ways to archive information accessed. Informants expressed a preference for improving systems with which they were already familiar such as PubMed and listservs rather than introducing new systems of information organization and delivery. A hypothetical ideal model for information organization and delivery was developed based on informants' stated information needs and preferred means of delivery. Features of the model were endorsed by the subjects who reviewed it.ConclusionMany critical information needs of PH practitioners are not being met efficiently or at all. We propose a dual strategy of: 1) promoting incremental improvements in existing information delivery systems based on the expressed preferences of the PH users of the systems and 2) the concurrent development and rigorous evaluation of new models of information organization and delivery that draw on successful resources already operating to deliver information to clinical medical practitioners.
Highlights
Movement towards evidence-based practices in many fields suggests that public health (PH) challenges may be better addressed if credible information about health risks and effective PH practices is readily available
Step 5 – hypothetical model development Following the individual interviews with Community Health Promotion (CHP) informants, we developed a preliminary hypothetical model of information reformulation, organization and access based on our interpretation of CHP informants' responses to the interview questions and prior findings from the Bureau of Communicable Disease Control (BCDC) informants
The CHP group and the BCDC are located in different office buildings, each of which includes a small library staffed by part-time librarians offering document search and retrieval services
Summary
Movement towards evidence-based practices in many fields suggests that public health (PH) challenges may be better addressed if credible information about health risks and effective PH practices is readily available. Studies focusing on obstacles to electronic access to and use of evidence-based information in the PH field [1,2,3,5,10,11,12,13] have identified many relevant obstacles including: (1) limited awareness of the importance of evidence-based information to inform practice and lack of encouragement from opinion leaders to seek it; (2) limited awareness of what information is available electronically and from what sources; (3) limited access to computers, the Internet or email; (4) limited skills needed to access the information sources and lack of ease of use; (5) a diverse array of content needs requiring access to databases from many disciplines (and in other languages); (6) limited time to sift through the poorly filtered information that is returned by searches using sets of search terms inadequate for PH concerns; (7) limited ability of decision-makers to appraise the methodological quality of research; and (8) the paucity of systematic reviews of PH topics
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