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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Evidence-Based Practice For Public Health Project: Final Report, E. Hatheway Simpson, Elaine R. Martin Apr 2014

Evidence-Based Practice For Public Health Project: Final Report, E. Hatheway Simpson, Elaine R. Martin

E. Hatheway Simpson

There are numerous clinically based models for finding the “best evidence” for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. This process is called evidence-based medicine or EBM, which has been defined as "the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research”.1 The need for improved access to high quality public health information has been echoed in various forums involving public health professionals, librarians, and information specialists since the mid 1990s. …


Improving Access To Credible And Relevant Information For Public Health Professionals: A Qualitative Study Of Information Needs In Communicable Disease Control, Nancy R. Lapelle, E. Hatheway Simpson, Roger S. Luckmann, Elaine Russo Martin Apr 2014

Improving Access To Credible And Relevant Information For Public Health Professionals: A Qualitative Study Of Information Needs In Communicable Disease Control, Nancy R. Lapelle, E. Hatheway Simpson, Roger S. Luckmann, Elaine Russo Martin

E. Hatheway Simpson

In order to understand the information needs and the current and ideal approaches to information access in one major area of public health, semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with 12 communicable disease control public health professionals in Massachusetts at their worksite. Examples of the types of information they commonly accessed and how it was accessed were solicited and/or observed where feasible. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Information needs ranged from breaking news (e.g. epidemiology of emerging disease outbreaks) and untested programmatic ideas (e.g. how to handle prevention and treatment of West Nile Virus and SARS) to the …


Identifying Strategies To Improve Access To Credible And Relevant Information For Public Health Professionals: A Qualitative Study, Nancy R. Lapelle, Roger S. Luckmann, E. Hatheway Simpson, Elaine Russo Martin Apr 2014

Identifying Strategies To Improve Access To Credible And Relevant Information For Public Health Professionals: A Qualitative Study, Nancy R. Lapelle, Roger S. Luckmann, E. Hatheway Simpson, Elaine Russo Martin

E. Hatheway Simpson

Background Movement towards evidence-based practices in many fields suggests that public health (PH) challenges may be better addressed if credible information about health risks and effective PH practices is readily available. However, research has shown that many PH information needs are unmet. In addition to reviewing relevant literature, this study performed a comprehensive review of existing information resources and collected data from two representative PH groups, focusing on identifying current practices, expressed information needs, and ideal systems for information access. Methods Nineteen individual interviews were conducted among employees of two domains in a state health department – communicable disease control …