Evidence-based Public Health is defined as the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of the current best evidence in making decisions about the care of communities and populations in the domain of health protection, disease prevention, health maintenance and improvement (health promotion). It is the process of systematically finding, appraising, and using contemporaneous research findings as the basis for decisions in public health." (Jenicek, M. (1997)).
Stating a well-framed question or hypothesis is essential. One cannot expect to run a high-quality search if the key concepts are not clearly stated.
The examples below use the P I C O framework to help.
A Type 1 question would be used when a stating a problem about a health problem that is beginning to surface.
| P | I | C | O |
|
electronic cigarettes youth |
none | none | smoking prevention |
Type 1: Electronic cigarettes are harmful and should not be promoted among youth.
Type 2 might be to address interventions that have been created in response to type 1 questions.
| P | I | C | O |
|
electronic cigarettes youth |
internet-based interventions |
none | smoking prevention |
Type 2: Are internet-based interventions effective in preventing electronic cigarette smoking among youth?
Type 3 questions might address assessed interventions and which would be most effective for implementation.
| P | I | C | O |
|
electronic cigarettes young |
smoking prevention |
Type 3: How effective is social media, i.e. Facebook and InstaGram, in promoting smoking prevention of electronic cigarettes among youth.
What is third hand smoke, and how does it impact each of the domains of Public Health?
Is Chikungunya a threat for the United States?
Follow the links to see how to apply type 1, type 2 and type 3 levels of evidence-based searching.
Epidemiology & Surveillance
Policy, Administration & Management
Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
Social & Behavioral Health
Environmental Health