Evidence-based Public Health: Theory, Methods and Practice

Welcome to the ‘Evidence Based Public Health: Theory, Methods and Practice’ module, which has been designed to provide students with knowledge and understanding of the opportunities and challenges of creating a credible evidence base for public health and the impact on health inequalities. The module will explore the historical development of the movement of evidence based practice and discuss some of the contemporary debates surrounding its relevance to national and international public health today.

Course Description

Assessing evidence of the effectiveness of health and healthcare interventions, programmes and services is one of the core competences identified by the UK Faculty of Public Health and the module has been designed to provide students with the in-depth knowledge and understanding of the opportunities and challenges of creating a credible evidence base for public health. During the module, we will explore the historical development of the movement, discover who the main players are in the field, and discuss some of the contemporary debates surrounding its relevance to international public health today.

The module will also highlight how evidence from a wide range of sources can be identified, synthesised and translated into actions that can improve the quality of initiatives aiming to improve health and reduce health inequalities. The module will draw on the work of a number of key organisations who are active in the field of public health, namely the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the US and the World Health Organization (WHO). The module will provide an opportunity for students to transfer learning from other modules such as ‘Epidemiology and Statistics for Public Health 1’.