Building the capacity – examining the impact of evidence-based public health trainings in Europe: a mixed methods approach

Abstract

Objective: Since 2002, a course entitled ‘Evidence-Based Public Health (EBPH): A Course in Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) Prevention’ has been taught annually in Europe as a collaboration between the Prevention Research Center in St Louis and other international organizations. The core purpose of this training is to strengthen the capacity of public health professionals, in order to apply and adapt evidence-based programmes in NCD prevention. The purpose of the present study is to assess the effectiveness of this EBPH course, in order to inform and improve future EBPH trainings. Methods: A total of 208 individuals participated in the European EBPH course between 2007 and 2016. Of these, 86 (41%) completed an online survey. Outcomes measured include frequency of use of EBPH skills/materials/resources, benefits of using EBPH and barriers to using EBPH. Analysis was performed to see if time since taking the course affected EBPH effectiveness. Participants were then stratified by frequency of EBPH use (low v. high) and asked to participate in in-depth telephone interviews to further examine the long-term impact of the course ( n = 11 (6 low use, 5 high use)). Findings: The most commonly reported benefits among participants included: acquiring knowledge about a new subject (95%), seeing applications for this knowledge in their own work (84%), and becoming a better leader to promote evidence-based decision-making (82%). Additionally, not having enough funding for continued training in EBPH (44%), co-workers not having EBPH training (33%) and not having enough time to implement EBPH approaches (30%) were the most commonly reported barriers to using EBPH. Interviews indicated that work-place and leadership support were important in facilitating the use of EBPH. Conclusion: Although the EBPH course effectively benefits participants, barriers remain towards widely implementing evidence-based approaches. Reaching and communicating with those in leadership roles may facilitate the growth of EBPH across countries.

Practitioner perspectives on building capacity for evidence-based public health in state health departments in the United States: a qualitative case study

“…Based on the results of this study, training topics could include information on accessing the literature and adapting EBIs so that they are relevant to the community. Previous and ongoing studies have demonstrated the benefit of different EBDM training approaches for individuals' confidence and skills related to EBDM [35,[62][63][64][65][66][67]. Within the United States, there are several training programs and materials available to public health practitioners, including those developed by the Regional Public Health Training Centers, the National Network of Public Health Institutes, the Public Health Foundation, CDC, universities, and professional groups such as the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (e.g., STAR program).…”

Perceptions of Evidence-Based Decision-Making Among Full-Time Teachers and Senior Undergraduates in Public Health: A Nationwide Survey in Taiwan

“…These findings were in accordance with previous reports showing that organizational barriers were more common than personal barriers among public health workers. 16,[24][25][26] In addition, a similar finding by Wahabi et al reported that most students perceived environment and culture as major barriers of EBPH implementation. 19 In contrast, our previous studies demonstrated that physicians and nurses possessed more personal barriers than organizational ones.…”

“…14 The best approach for educational training of EBPH is school curriculum for undergraduates. 15 Although many programs for EBPH have been developed worldwide, [16][17][18] efforts on the introduction of curricula for EBPH are little from educational institutions. 19,20 In order to scale up EBPH in the school level, it is imperative to understand the extent to which EBPH is used among the public health department of university.…”

The Relationships Between State Health Department Practitioners’ Perceptions of Organizational Supports and Evidence-Based Decision-Making Skills

“…Our finding that improvements in individual and organizational capacity were minimal, despite increases in workforce development scores and efforts by researchers and practitioners, 23,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40] indicates that continued work is needed to improve evidence-based public health in public health practice at the state level. Innovative or tailored dissemination strategies may be needed to overcome commonly cited barriers to engaging in EBDM, particularly lack of incentives, time, appropriate funding, managerial support, and staff turnover.…”