The purpose of this guide is to:
"Evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) is ‘the process of distilling and disseminating the best available evidence from research, practice and experience and using that evidence to inform and improve public health policy and practice. Put simply, it means finding, using and sharing what works in public health" [Evidence-informed decision-making: Information and tools [web-page]. Canadian Best Practices Portal. Accessed 2016 Aug]
Useful Resources
Evidence-based clinical practice involves the best external evidence, your clinical expertise and patient values & expectations
The Evidence-Based Medicine Triad
"Evidence-informed public health involves integrating the best available research evidence into the decision-making process and using that evidence to inform and improve public health practice and policy. Additional factors – community health issues and local context; community and political preferences and actions; and public health resources – create the environment in which that research evidence is interpreted and applied"
A model for evidence-informed decision-making in public health. Fact sheet. 2012. National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools. Accessed 2016 Nov 10.
Further Reading
What is Evidence-Based Public Policy?
The major goal of evidence-based policy development is to ensure that the experience, expertise and judgment of decision-makers is supported and resourced with the best available objective evidence and systematic research. Policy research is not expected to produce the solutions or decisions. It is meant to provide accurate, reliable and credible information, knowledge and analysis to inform public policy. The knowledge base it produces provides an important ingredient for the policy development process to reduce risk and improve outcomes, but it is not a substitute for the process
(Townsend T, Kunimoto B. Capacity, collaboration and culture: The future of the policy research function in the Government of Canada. [Canada]: Government of Canada. Policy Research Initiative. 2009 Mar. Available from: https://assembly.nu.ca/library/Edocs/2009/001235-e.pdf. Accessed Jul 7 2021).
SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed health policymaking (STP)
Complete article series available from: Health Research Policy and Systems. 2009:7(Suppl 1)
Further reading
"The starting point for evidence-based management is that management decisions should be based on a combination of critical thinking and the best available evidence. And by ‘evidence’, we mean information, facts or data supporting (or contradicting) a claim, assumption or hypothesis. Evidence may come from scientific research, but internal business information and even professional experience can count as ‘evidence’. In principle, then, all managers base their decisions on ‘evidence’."
Center for Evidence Based Management. What is evidence-based management?[Web-page]. Accessed 2016 Aug 15
Further reading
Stages in the process:
FROM: National Collaborating Centre for Methods & Tools (Canadian)
DEFINE
The aim is to develop a "searchable" question to guide your research. A number of frameworks have been developed to assist in this process.
The most well known & widely used is PICO - Patient (or Problem)-Intervention-Comparison-Outcome.
Other frameworks include:
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FROM: https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/library/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/Lit_search_protocols_2013.pdf. Accessed Jul 7 2021
Resources to assist you in formulating your searchable question:
Once the question has been clarified, the next task is to begin to identify & locate the best available evidence-based research to answer your question:
What type and level of evidence is required?
The type of evidence you require is dependent upon whether your research is primarily qualitative or quantitative in nature, and whether the focus is clinical or non-clinical.
Some useful resources:
Where to search
The published journal literature is not the only source that you may need to consult. Other avenues to consider include statistical sources and the grey literature.
Some useful resources:
Qualitative and Non-Clinical Research
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Quantitative and Clinical Research
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Evidence-Based Practice: Study Design. |
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Once the research has been identified the next step is to appraise (assess) the quality of research evidence.
The appraisal process is designed to address the following three questions:
A number of tools & checklists have been developed to assist with this process. The type of tool or critical appraisal checklist you will use is dependent upon what you are researching, including the query type, and what type of studies constitute best evidence to support that type of question.
Resources
Further Reading
These two steps are inter-related. The "synthesize" step focuses on the big picture and how to determine what the evidence says in relation to the issue being investigated. The "adapt" step focuses on (1) determining the relevance of the evidence and (2) how best to tailor any policy recommendations or actions for practice to the local context.
SYNTHESIZE
This step is where you interpret and form clear and actionable recommendations for practice based on the evidence found.
It is designed to answer the question:
Resources
These two steps are inter-related. The "synthesize" step focuses on the big picture and how to determine what the evidence says in relation to the issue being investigated. The "adapt" step focuses on (1) determining the relevance of the evidence and (2) how best to tailor any policy recommendations or actions for practice to the local context.
ADAPT
This step focuses on answering the question
This step is crucial to determine if the intervention will be relevant and successful in your community. To adapt evidence to the local context, consider these issues:
Model for evidence-informed decision making in public health
(From: Australian Public Service Commission. Challenges of evidence-based policy making. Last update 2009 Jun 19. Available from: https://legacy.apsc.gov.au/challenges-evidence-based-policy-making. Accessed 2016 Aug 11.)
IMPLEMENT
This stage is designed to address the question:
It focuses on figuring out how to use the adapted evidence in your local setting and involves the development of a detailed implementation plan.
Creating an implementation plan consists of these three critical steps:
Resources
Further Reading
EVALUATE
The final step in the process helps you answer these two questions:
There are two kinds of evaluation:
Both evaluations involve these steps:
