Building the evidence base for population-level interventions: barriers and opportunities

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Policy
• Health Systems Research

Background:

• Population-level interventions using policy, systems, and environmental change strategies are increasingly adopted to improve population health.
• There is a growing emphasis on implementing evidence-based public health practices, particularly at the federal level.
• A tension exists between utilizing current evidence for immediate action and awaiting more rigorous data for population health strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the creation of a resource designed to assist public health practitioners in strategic decision-making.
• To support practitioners in using existing evidence while simultaneously contributing to the evidence base for population-level interventions.
• To provide a practical guide for evaluating and developing evidence-based population health strategies.

Main Methods:

• Development of a resource to guide public health practitioners.
• The resource addresses critical evaluation topics: internal vs. external validity, health equity measures, and intervention fidelity vs. adaptation.
• Focus on practical application for practitioners, project managers, and evaluators.

Main Results:

• A new resource has been created to aid public health practitioners.
• The resource facilitates the use of current evidence for strategic decision-making in population health.
• It provides guidance on evaluating and building the evidence base for interventions.

Conclusions:

• The developed resource offers a practical guide for public health practitioners, project managers, and evaluators.
• It addresses key challenges in evaluating population-level interventions, including validity, equity, and adaptation.
• The resource aims to advance the evidence base in the field of population health interventions.