10 Essential Services of Public Health
Evidence-based public health research differs from clinical research in that it focuses on decision making for populations to promote health and prevent illness, while clinical research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of individuals.
The evidence gathered in public health research is more likely to come from observational studies in a wide array of disciplines than from randomized controlled trials.
One of the components of Evidence-Based Public Health research practices is to engage the broader community in decision making. The people who will use the research to make decisions are often policy makers whose decisions can potentially impact the health of many people. Politics is always a player when it comes to public health decision making. Decisions need to be made but they also need to be evaluated and open to revision as new evidence becomes available.
Crucial skills for public health researchers are the ability to formulate useful research questions and to critically appraise public health literature for validity and relevance .
What can be used as evidence for making informed public health decisions? Here are some of the many useful resources available:
Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health a good place to start if you are already familiar with the principles of evidence based practice. Includes the Community Guide to Preventive Services , public health recommendations that cite evidence from systematic reviews in a clear easy to understand format
Health Services/Technology Assessment Text (HSTAT) searchable collection of full text government documents compiled by the National Library of Medicine to support health care decision making. Includes: Evidence Reports (AHRQ), Protocols (SAMHSA), Preventive Medicine Recommendations (USPSTF) and Consensus Reports (NIH)
NACCHO: Nat’l Assoc. of County & City Health Officials- Model Best Practices database of model and promising practices for local public health services
PHP partners: Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce - web portal designed to meet the needs of a broad variety of public health researchers
Subject specific databases:
AGRICOLA agriculture, food safety, human nutrition
Environmental Health and Toxicology includes TOXNET databases
ERIC: Education Resources Information Center
FASTSTATS – AtoZ – easy to use directory of government public health statistics
HSRPROJ: Health Services Research Projects in Progress access to ongoing grants and contracts in health services research
MEDLINE/PubMed Search and Health Disparities & Minority Health Information Resources
NCJRS: National Criminal Justice Reference Service – Abstracts and Full- text database violence prevention , substance abuse, juvenile justice etc.
POPLINE population, family planning and related research
Tags: evidence-based, health disparities, nutrition, public health
