Evidence-based health policy: context and utilisation
Abstract
Evidence-based decision-making is centred on the justification of decisions. In the shift from an individual-clinical to a population-policy level, the decision-making context becomes more uncertain, variable and complex. To address this we have developed a conceptual framework for evidence-based decision-making, focusing on how context impacts on what constitutes evidence and how that evidence is utilised. We present two distinct orientations towards what constitutes evidence, representing different relationships between evidence and context. We also categorise the decision-making context based on the ways in which context impacts on evidence-based decision-making. Furthermore, we invoke the concept of axes of evidence-based decision-making to describe the relationship between evidence and context as we move from evidence-based medicine to evidence-based health policy. From this, we suggest that it may be more important how evidence is utilised than how it is defined. Based on the research and knowledge utilisation literature, we present a process model of evidence utilisation, which forms the basis for the conceptual framework for context-based evidence-based decision-making. The conceptual framework attempts to capture the role that context plays in the introduction, interpretation and application of evidence. We illustrate this framework with examples from policy development for colorectal cancer screening.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Social Science & Medicine.
Volume (Year): 58 (2004)
Issue (Month): 1 (January)
Pages: 207-217
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Keywords: Evidence-based decision-making Health policy Context Evidence utilisation;References
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Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Green, Andrew & Gerein, Nancy & Mirzoev, Tolib & Bird, Philippa & Pearson, Stephen & Anh, Le Vu & Martineau, Tim & Mukhopadhyay, Maitrayee & Qian, Xu & Ramani, K.V. & Soors, Werner, 2011. "Health policy processes in maternal health: A comparison of Vietnam, India and China," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 167-173.
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