NACDD Opportunities Improve Capacity in Evidence-Based Decision Making

NACDD is currently in its 15^th year of sponsorship of the Evidence-Based Public Health (EBPH) Course in collaboration with CDC and the Prevention Research Center in St. Louis. The course is one of the most extensively evaluated training programs for practitioners. Both quantitative and qualitative evaluations have been conducted and published showing the value of the training program.

In the two 2016 Regional Courses hosted in St Louis, NACDD and the PRC sponsored 51 participants. Region H sent teams from WY, MT, ND, SD, UT, CO and Region B was represented by teams from PA, DC, VA, WV, and NJ.

NACDD also sponsored two state-based trainings in 2016; one in Wisconsin for 40 participants and one in Delaware the included 32 public health practitioners. Participants include those being trained to replicate the course in 2017. Tennessee held their first replication course in 2016 for 35 people. See article for evaluation of the train-the-trainer approach.

An international version of the EBPH course was held in Bregenz, Austria in May 2016. Twenty-one attendees from 13 European countries attended the four-day course. Several spin-off courses have been held following earlier versions in Bregenz including those in Hungary and Georgia.

A few highlights from follow-up evaluations include the following:

• 90% of participants felt that the EBPH course helped them make informed decisions at work;
• 82% felt that they can communicate better with coworkers who use EBPH skills;
• 66% have used the EBPH materials in planning a new program;
• 55% have searched the scientific literature for information on programs on at least a monthly basis; and
• 13% have designed and delivered an EBPH course.

Here are some quotes from practitioners who have attended the course:

"Reinforces the importance of developing programs with an evidence base (not just sitting in a room with your coworkers thinking of interesting things to do)”

"Provides useful information on how to find the evidence that is available (the community guide, how to do lit searches, etc.).”

"Emphasizes how important it is to link data to our program objectives and policies, and share data with people who are decision-makers.”

For information on any of the courses, contact Carol Brownson at cbrownson@chronicdisease.org.