Public Health Evidence
Tackling health inequalities
Published on 17. August 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
610 pages
978-0-19-852083-2 (ISBN)
Description
As public health issues have gained an increasingly high political profile, the need for policy and management decisions to be informed by robust evidence of the effectiveness is now viewed as crucial. While evidence-based medicine is a well accepted feature in clinical health care, public health interventions are inherently more complex and present both significant challenges and opportunities for advancing this approach.
In England, developments include the setting up of the Centre of Public Health Excellence, at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), with the responsibility for providing evidence and guidelines on the effectiveness of interventions and programmes in priority areas of public health. Further important contributions are also being made by many other research centres and groups. This book presents many of these contributions and provides a state of the art compendium on this subject. Inequality in health is a widespread problem, and the themes discussed here can be used for international comparison and application.
Public health evidence examines: international trends in social inequalities in health; the role of evidence in public health policy development and practice; the infrastructure of the UK evidence-based approach; selected examples of how evidence is being applied to reduce health inequalities in England; the methodological challenges involved in evaluating interventions and the synthesis of evidence; and how to take this approach forward.
The key message is that tackling health inequalities and implementing the evidence-based approach will require commitment from all those involved; researchers, academics, policy makers, the public and private sector, practitioners, the NHS, and local government. But health inequalities are a common problem facing more developed countries, and the book has international relevance. This timely contribution pushes the boundaries of thinking on research in public health.
In England, developments include the setting up of the Centre of Public Health Excellence, at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), with the responsibility for providing evidence and guidelines on the effectiveness of interventions and programmes in priority areas of public health. Further important contributions are also being made by many other research centres and groups. This book presents many of these contributions and provides a state of the art compendium on this subject. Inequality in health is a widespread problem, and the themes discussed here can be used for international comparison and application.
Public health evidence examines: international trends in social inequalities in health; the role of evidence in public health policy development and practice; the infrastructure of the UK evidence-based approach; selected examples of how evidence is being applied to reduce health inequalities in England; the methodological challenges involved in evaluating interventions and the synthesis of evidence; and how to take this approach forward.
The key message is that tackling health inequalities and implementing the evidence-based approach will require commitment from all those involved; researchers, academics, policy makers, the public and private sector, practitioners, the NHS, and local government. But health inequalities are a common problem facing more developed countries, and the book has international relevance. This timely contribution pushes the boundaries of thinking on research in public health.
Reviews / Votes
Although we have a wealth of information about evidence-based practice in healthcare very little has been written about evidence-based public health to date. This year has seen the emergence of the first texts along thsee lines and one would hope that they will encourage the principles of evidence-based practice to filter into public health practice....[recommended] to individuals working in applied public health settings, particularly newcomers to the field, researchers, and students on public health courses. * Critical Public Health * ...this book provides a useful picture of the current level of development of evidence-based public health policy and practice, and specifically action to address health inequalities in the UK. It has a practical 'real life' focus and will be of interest primarily to academics and public health practitioners based in the UK. ...Overall, cause for optimism isprovided with some significant advances being made in public health research methods and creative ideas about future directions being displayed. sMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
46 black and white line illustrations, and a 2 side colour plate section
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 172 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
1049 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-852083-2 (9780198520832)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Editor
Analyst, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Senior Research Specialist, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Director of Centre for Public Health Excellence at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Consultant editor
Associate Director, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Information Analyst, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
, Associate Director, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Analyst, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Analyst, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Analyst, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, London, UK
Content
SECTION 1: TOWARDS EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY AND PRACTICE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ; 1. Patterns and trends in inequalities in health: an international phenomenon ; 2. The development of an evidence based approach to tackling health inequalities in England ; 3. Social determinants and public health policy in the UK ; SECTION 2: SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES FOR DEVELOPING AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO TACKLING HEALTH INEQUALITIES ; 4. Building the evidence base - the contribution of the Department of Health's Policy Research Programme (England) ; 5. The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) ; 6. The Cochrane Collaboration ; 7. Accumulating evidence to bring policy, practice and research together ; 8. The Centre for Evidence-based Public Health Policy: part of the ESRC Evidence Network ; 9. What Works for Children? ; 10. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ; 11. Health Evidence Bulletins Wales ; 12. Evidence, policy and practice - developing collaborative approaches in Scotland ; SECTION 3: CONCEPTS AND METHODS FOR EVALUATION AND SYNTHESIS OF THE EVIDENCE: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES ; 13. Simple Principles for the Evaluation of Complex Programmes ; 14. Systematic or Unsystematic, is that the question? Some reflections on the science, art and politics of reviewing research evidence ; 15. Research synthesis for tackling health inequalities: lessons from methods developed within systematic reviews with a focus on marginalised groups ; 16. Evidence from qualitative and quantitative research ; 17. Evidence for public health practice: conceptual and methodological challenges ; 18. What evidence do we have on implementation? ; 19. The Bayesian approach to decision making ; SECTION 4: PUTTING EVIDENCE INTO POLICY AND PRACTICE: EXAMPLES AND LESSONS ; 20. Teenage pregnancy policy and practice: the application of evidence ; 21. Smoking cessation: an evidence-based approach to tackling health inequalities? ; 22. Ethnicity ; 23. Tackling health inequalities at the community level: Neighbourhood Renewal and the New Deal for Communities ; 24. Healthy Living Centres ; 25. Health Action Zones ; 26. Evidence into practice for service improvement in health care: experience from the NHS Modernisation Agency ; SECTION 5: DEVELOPMENTS AND EXPERIENCES INTERNATIONALLY ; 27. Public policies and inequalities and health - challenges and lessons from Finland ; 28. Sweden ; 29. Assessing and Addressing Health Inequalities: The Canadian Experience ; 30. An evidence based approach to public health and tackling health inequalities in Ireland and Northern Ireland ; SECTION 6: THE FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES ; 31. Bringing about social change-implications for health ; 32. Tackling health inequalities: improving the health of poor groups, narrowing health gaps and reducing health gradients ; 33. Mapping the life world: a future research priority for public health