Evidence-based Public Health: Effectiveness and efficiency

Evidence-based Public Health: Effectiveness and Efficiency continues the themes raised in Public Health Evidence: Tackling Health Inequalities. Written by the same author team, this is a comprehensive reference to evidence-based approaches in public health. It covers the context and role of evidence-based public health in England; frameworks for evaluating the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of public health policies and interventions; diversity, vulnerability, and risk as a focus for understanding the role of social context in influencing health-related behaviours; approaches and methods to generate and synthesize evidence of what works to improve health and tackle health inequalities; current best available evidence on the effectiveness of a diverse range of interventions; and the role of evidence-based guidance and standards in changing policy and practice.

This book will be essential reading for all those concerned with advancing an evidence-based approach to public health, and tackling health inequalities, including academics, researchers, policy makers, postgraduate students in public health, and anyone involved across different sectors of public health, including local government, health, and education. Whilst based on work done in England by NICE, the book contains generic principles which are applicable internationally.

Evidence-based Public Health: Effectiveness and Efficiency continues the themes raised in Public Health Evidence: Tackling Health Inequalities. Written by the same author team, this book is a comprehensive reference to evidence-based approaches in public health. It covers the context and role of evidence-based public health in England, frameworks for evaluating the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of public health policies and interventions; diversity, vulnerability, and risk a a focus for understanding the role of social context in influencing health-related behaviors, approaches and methods to generate and synthesize evidence of what works to improve health and tackle health inequalities; current best available evidence on the effectiveness of a diverse range of interventions, and the role of evidence-based guidance and standards in changing policy and practice.

This book is essential reading for all those concerned with advancing an evidence-based approach to public health and tackling public health inequalities, including academics, researchers, policy makers, postgraduate students in public health, and anyone involved across different sectors of public health, including local government, health, and education.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:D. Patrick Lenihan, PhD(University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health)
Description:This book explores the issues and challenges of generating and using evidence for policy and program development in public health. Its particular focus is on policy development and addressing the social determinants of public health as opposed to behavioral change. It provides a strong conceptual grounding, touches on key methodological issues, and offers a useful set of examples that demonstrate major points.
Purpose:The purpose is to encourage the use of evidence in public health policy development as a means to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of public health interventions, and to justify their worth to decision makers in the democratic process of resource allocation, but doing so in a way that recognizes a range of challenges that will be encountered in generating and evaluating evidence.
Audience:It is appropriate for a varied audience, including academics and policy makers, along with organizations and individuals with a strong interest in public health, but especially students and researchers who will likely be called upon to generate and evaluate public health evidence.
Features:The book lays out a broad conceptual framework for considering evidence generation and assessment, which moves beyond the usual methodological issues to include ideological, political, and epistemological factors. The focus on policy development and the social determinants of health provides a departure from the more traditional focus on behavioral change. The emphasis on the complexity of most public health issues and the need for an evidence generation or evaluation strategy that accommodates this complexity is especially relevant. The call for greater economic analysis in assessing interventions, supported by several case examples, is a valuable feature. The book's perspective and heavy dose of examples from the U.K. may cause some readers to question the relevance to U.S. public health, but the U.K. context is more for illustration purposes than it is central to the points and concepts presented.
Assessment:This may be the most comprehensive conceptual treatment of generating and appraising evidence for public heath currently available. Other works addressing this topic tend to focus more on methodological aspects, deal with a particular subject area, or are more how-to oriented (e.g. Evidence-Based Public Health, Brownson, et al. (Oxford University Press, 2003)).

Dr Amanda Killoran is a Public Health Analyst at the Centre for Public Health Excellence at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Dr Killoran has worked at national level on public health policy, research and evaluation over many years (previously at the Health Development Agency, and Health Educational Authority). Currently Dr Killoran has technical responsibilities for the development of evidence-based public health guidance covering a wide range of areas (such as sexual health, emotional and social wellbeing of children, spatial planning, and mental wellbeing at work), and contributes to methodological developments relating to review of public health evidence. She is Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and holds voluntary registration, and also has an honorary lectureship at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr Killoran also contributes to national evaluation programmes as a Visiting Fellow in Health Policy Analysis at the King's Fund. Professor Mike Kelly is Director of the Centre of Public Health Excellence at NICE. He originally graduated in Social Science from the University of York, holds a Masters degree in Sociology from the University of Leicester, and undertook his PhD in the Department of Psychiatry in the University of Dundee. Before joining new NICE he was Director of Evidence and Guidance at the Health Development Agency. Professor Kelly has held posts at the Universities of Leicester, Dundee, Glasgow, Greenwich and Abertay. He now has an honorary chair in the Department of Public Health and Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health. At NICE Professor Kelly has led the development of the public health portfolio since 2005. This has included the public health guidance on the prevention and management of obesity, behaviour change, maternal and child health, community engagement and physical activity and the environment.