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Facilitating access to pre-processed research evidence in public health
Paula Robeson*, Maureen Dobbins, Kara DeCorby†, Daiva Tirilis†
Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University
BMC Public Health 2010, 10:95
Abstract
Background: Evidence-informed decision making is accepted in Canada and
worldwide as necessary for the provision of effective health services. This
process involves: 1) clearly articulating a practice-based issue; 2) searching
for and accessing relevant evidence; 3) appraising methodological rigor and
choosing the most synthesized evidence of the highest quality and relevance to
the practice issue and setting that is available; and 4) extracting, interpreting,
and translating knowledge, in light of the local context and resources, into
practice, program and policy decisions. While the public health sector in
Canada is working toward evidence-informed decision making, considerable
barriers, including efficient access to synthesized resources, exist.
Methods: In this paper we map to a previously developed 6 level pyramid of
pre-processed research evidence, relevant resources that include public
health-related effectiveness evidence. The resources were identified through
extensive searches of both the published and unpublished domains.
Results: Many resources with public health-related evidence were identified.
While there were very few resources dedicated solely to public health evidence,
many clinically focused resources include public health-related evidence,
making tools such as the pyramid, that identify these resources, particularly
helpful for public health decisions makers. A practical example illustrates the
application of this model and highlights its potential to reduce the time and
effort that would be required by public health decision makers to address their
practice-based issues.
Conclusions: This paper describes an existing hierarchy of pre-processed
evidence and its adaptation to the public health setting. A number of resources
with public health-relevant content that are either freely accessible or requiring
a subscription are identified. This will facilitate easier and faster access to
pre-processed, public healthrelevant evidence, with the intent of promoting
evidence-informed decision making. Access to such resources addresses
several barriers identified by public health decision makers to evidence-informed
decision making, most importantly time, as well as lack of knowledge of
resources that house public health-relevant evidence.
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