1

Model and Evidence-Based Public Health Programs and Policy Websites

8.1.2012

Organization / Website URL / Aim / Priorities Addressed / Notes
The Guide to Community Preventive Services / http://www.thecommunityguide.org/index.html / Provides evidence-based recommendations using a scientific systematic review process to evaluate public health interventions. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Interventions reviewed by task force—look at relevance & economic plausibility and possible barriers of interventions
- Reviewed interventions divided by topic
- CDC involvement
- Easy to navigate
National Association of County & City Health Officials / http://www.naccho.org/topics/modelpractices/database/index.cfm / A database comprised of model practices that deal with community health, environmental health, public health infrastructure & systems, and public health preparedness. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Large database
- ‘Promising practice’ can be searched by state, type, year and/or keyword
- Categorized as a model or a promising model
- Notes intervention’s responsiveness, innovation, sustainability, community involvement, etc.
- Very easy to navigate and well organized
The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordination Centre / http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=53 / Offer reliable research findings based on systematic reviews in both the social science and public policy realm. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - University of London
- Reviews found by topic or using chronological list
- Short summaries with both ineffective and beneficial findings provided for each topic
- Easy to navigate
Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce / http://phpartners.org/hp2020/index.html / Allows for research on published literature related to the Healthy People 2020 topics. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Connects Health People 2012 objectives to related PubMed peer-reviewed publications
- Organized by topic
- Geared toward gathering empirical data
- Easy to navigate but not as beneficial for reviewed interventions or policies
New Tactics in Human Rights / http://www.newtactics.org/en/tactics / Promotes innovativeness and provides reviews of mostly community-level interventions hat have worked in communities throughout the world. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Based on human rights issues (i.e. how to share critical info, strengthening individuals and communities, etc)- some not applicable
- Can by category: prevention, restoration, intervention and building human rights cultures & institutions
- Provides more quantitative evidence-based methods
- Reviews easy to comprehend
SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices / http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/Index.aspx / NREPP is a database that allows mental health and substance abuse interventions to be posted and reviewed by individuals. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - All interventions that have been rated/reviewed by individuals—but not all reviewed
- Limited amount of publications
- Available ‘compare option’, which allows multiple reviews to be organized side by side based on outcomes, ages, race/ethnicities and settings.
- Easy to navigate
The Community Tool Box / http://ctb.ku.edu/en/promisingapproach/Databases_Best_Practices.aspx / Links to an extensive amount of databases of best practices. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - List of websites that provide evidence-based interventions
- Easy to navigate
- Starts with generalized health- related databases and also has topic-specific intervention sites
- Very helpful!!
The Center of Excellence—for Training and Research Translation / http://www.center-trt.org/index.cfm / “Designed to support the planning, implementation, and the evaluation of evidence-supported nutrition, physical activity and obesity prevention interventions.” / Obesity / - Offers both research-tested and practice-tested interventions
- Has webinar series
- Provided interventions are well summarized and organized.
- Good options!!
US National Library of Medicine National—National institutes of Health-- PubMed / http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ / Includes MANY pieces of literature from multiple sources. Can be used to find a wide variety of studies, interventions and tested programs. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Very easy to navigate
- Allows for related articles to be found
- Search by title, key words, subject, author, etc.
- Not all peer-reviewed citations, but empirical and evidence-based
- Not all interventions/articles/reviews in full text
- Free database
- Very easy to navigate
MedlinePlus / http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ / Works as part of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, much like PubMed. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Like PubMed
- Access to thousands of studies
- Many interventions can be searched for, depending on subject, keywords, etc.
- Free database
What Works for Health—‘Policies and Programs to Improve Wisconsin’s Health’ / http://whatworksforhealth.wisc.edu/ / Works as an evidence-based resource to supply a database of scientifically proven and expert approved policies and programs. / Obesity / - Suggested programs are Wisconsin specific
- Search by category—Diet and exercise section applicable
- Somewhat easy to navigate
- Organized by type of policy/program, evidence rating and who the decision maker is for the specific program
- Provides citations for each selected type of program
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dach_chaps/Default/index.aspx / Provides ability to plan for implementation and evaluation of community health interventions and programs. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Mostly focused on chronic disease and health disparity issues, but there is available literature on the three focus sections.
- Reliable source
- Search by topic
- Not all articles/journals are relevant
Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Databse—NIAAA / http://etoh.niaaa.nih.gov/ / A database focused on information pertaining to alcohol research. / Substance (alcohol) abuse / - Can search by keywords, author, subject, etc.
- Easy to navigate
- Provides many ‘hits’ on searches
- Alcohol- specific
The Cochrane Library / http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/index.html / Combination of seven individual databases and is intended to provide evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Organized by topic/ search by category
- Systematic review source
- Large database & wide range of topics and interventions
- Easy to navigate and organized well
- Very beneficial source!!
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—‘Advancing Excellence in Health Care’ / (1)http://www.ahrq.gov/
(2)http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/innovations_qualitytools.aspx?categoryID=54805&taxonomyID=54821 / Aims to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / (1)
- Not organized too well
- Can search by topic (under ‘Browse’ button)
- Appears to offer more on current research on illnesses/issues vs. current interventions
(2)
- Well organized
- Provides sources for all three topic areas
- More to offer than the evidence-based practice center portion of the site
Blueprints for Violence Prevention / http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/ / Aims to provide resources surrounding the causes and prevention of violence. / Mental health & Substance Abuse / - Not too applicable, but possible outlet for substance abuse and possibly mental health related programs & publications
- Looks to focus on interventions at the youth level
- Possible for secondary research (sub-topics of above priorities)
The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC) / http://www.cebc4cw.org/ / Provides child welfare related programs to inform the community about the research evidence for programs used or marketed in California. / Mental health & Substance Abuse / - Rates programs on scale 1- 5/NA: (1) Well-supported by research evidence to (5) Concerning practice, and (NR) Not able to be rated.
- Well organized & easy to navigate
- Search by topic area or by specific program
- Programs focused on children, adolescent but some also for adults
Find Youth Info / http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/ / Aims to promote the goal of positive, health outcomes for youth by create and supporting this site, identifying and disseminating promising and effective strategies and promoting enhanced collaborations. / Mental health & Substance Abuse / - Site rates programs on a scale of 1-3
- Focused on youth programs
- Search by keyword
- Programs well organized and easy to comprehend
- Good site for youth-based intervention/program opportunities
Promising Practices Network / http://www.promisingpractices.net/ / This site offers resources that are credible, research0based information on what works to improve the lives of children and families. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Looks mainly at youth and family relationships
- Ranking: (1) proven programs, (2) promising programs & (3) other reviewed programs.
- Easy to locate specific portions of interventions (ex: ‘outcome’ or ‘issues to consider’)
- Can search but outcome area, topic, author, etc.
Public Health Law Research—‘Making the case for Laws that Improve Health’ / http://publichealthlawresearch.org/ / National initiative to promote effective regulatory, legal and policy solutions to improve public health. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Not the easiest to navigate & limited applicable information, but still a good outlet for policies that are currently in place, for example, ‘obesity prevention laws’ and ‘alcohol policy information systems’
- Valuable for current practices in each area
- Also provides funding opportunities (long-, short- and rapid- response funding)
- a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program (like PHAB)
Social Programs The Work / http://evidencebasedprograms.org/wordpress/ / Seeks to identify those social interventions shown in rigorous studies to produce sizable, sustained benefits to participants and/or society. / Mental health, Obesity & Substance abuse / - Interventions organized by topic
- Ranking organization: from top to near top tier intervention
- Can view complete intervention list with brief abstracts—very useful
- Limited number of programs within this database