The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

3302.0: Monday, November 11, 2002 - Board 7

Abstract #45124

Evidence-based public health practice: Training of a local health workforce

William Baldyga, DrPH1, Karen Peters, DrPH2, and Edith Sternberg, MPH, CHES2. (1) School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, 850 W. Jackson Suite 400, Health Research and Policy Center, Chicago, IL 60607, (2) Illinois Prevention Research Center, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, 850 W. Jackson (M/C 275), Chicago, IL 60607, 312-413-4944, bbaldyga@uic.edu

Local and county level public health practice should incorporate sound scientific decision-making based on the best available evidence for implementing practice activities and programs. The knowledge, skills and ability of local health department staff to locate evidence for programming efforts have been hampered by a lack of training in social and behavioral health sciences, along with difficulty in retrieving and utilizing evidence based strategies that can inform local public health practice. The aim of this presentation is to describe the content, format and evaluation of a training course focusing on chronic disease management intervention strategies developed for local health department personnel responsible for program initiation and maintenance. The approach utilizes a multi-component, modular format which includes the topics of priority setting, logic model development, systematic literature review, issue quantification, action plan creation and policy/program evaluation. The findings from this highly evaluated training activity reveal that participants have increased knowledge of evidence based principles, and systematic approaches to public health practice and chronic disease prevention, learned a comprehensive approach to program development and evaluation, and are able to access and interpret existing data systems and methods of using evidence based summaries.

Learning Objectives: At the conculsion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

Keywords: Evidence Based Practice, Public Health Education and Health Promotion

Related Web page: cebcp.com/ebcdp

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Applying Methodological Techniques to Public Health Practices

The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA