Jacobs, J.A., Clayton, P.F., Dove, C., Funchess, T., Jones, E., Perveen, G., Skidmore, B. et al. (2012). A survey tool for measuring evidence-based decision making capacity in public health agencies. BMC Health Services Research, 12(57). doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-12-57.
Description
This survey tool measures individual practitioner and organizational capacity for evidence-based decision making (EBDM) in public health. Developed to support implementation of evidence-based interventions in chronic disease, the instrument measures practitioner self-efficacy and competencies and organizational capacity for evidence-informed public health.
This tool was used to assess EBDM capacity in Kansas and Mississippi (USA) among state- and local-level practitioners and community partners working in chronic disease prevention and management. Adapted from another survey instrument to identify individual and organizational barriers to EBDM in public health at the national level in the United States (Jacobs et al., 2010), the current tool consists of 33 items (Kansas instrument) and 38 items (Mississippi instrument).
The instrument was developed from evidence-based public health (EBPH) (Brownson, Fielding & Maylahn, 2009), and assesses organizational and practitioner capacity for EBDM to use and apply:
- Best available scientific evidence (both quantitative and qualitative);
- Public health surveillance data;
- Program-planning frameworks (theoretically based);
- Sound evaluation;
- Community engagement and partnerships; and
- Economic evaluation data.
EBDM gap identification allows practitioners and organizations to then access tools and resources through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numerous other agencies (Jacobs et al., 2012), Public Health Agency of Canada (Skills Enhancement for Public Health) and NCCMT's online learning modules.
A related resource that assesses organizational capacity for using research evidence is:
- Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement's (Canadian Health Services Research Foundation) Self-Assessment Tool
Steps for Using Method/Tool
The instrument consists of the following sections:
- Demographic questions
- Evidence-Based Decision Making
- Importance and Availability of Evidence-Based Decision Making
- Potential Resources for Evidence-Based Decision Making
Evaluation
The instrument has not been extensively tested for psychometric properties, although most items have been subjected to cognitive response testing. It has been used to measure capacity for evidence-based decision making (EBDM) in public health among practitioners in Kansas (n=190) and Mississippi (n=96). Examining gaps between the importance and availability of competencies for EBDM in chronic disease, top competency gaps were: communicating evidence-based research to policy-makers, making decisions based on economic evaluation and translating evidence-based interventions to real world settings. Self-efficacy to find and use data was highest, whereas the ability to develop evidence-based chronic disease programs was the lowest rated skill in both groups.
These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context. For more information on individual methods and tools included in the review, please consult the authors/developers of the original resources.
We have provided the resources and links as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by McMaster University of any of the products, services or opinions of the external organizations, nor have the external organizations endorsed their resources and links as provided by McMaster University. McMaster University bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external sites.
