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. 2019 May;109(5):739-747.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.304958. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

Evidence-Based Public Health Provided Through Local Health Departments: Importance of Academic-Practice Partnerships

Paul Campbell Erwin  1 , Renee G Parks  1 , Stephanie Mazzucca  1 , Peg Allen  1 , Elizabeth A Baker  1 , Hengrui Hu  1 , Johnnetta Davis-Joyce  1 , Ross C Brownson  1
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Evidence-Based Public Health Provided Through Local Health Departments: Importance of Academic-Practice Partnerships

Paul Campbell Erwin et al. Am J Public Health. 2019 May.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the extent to which US local health departments (LHDs) are engaged in evidence-based public health and whether this is influenced by the presence of an academic health department (AHD) partnership.

Methods: We surveyed a cross-sectional stratified random sample of 579 LHDs in 2017. We ascertained the extent of support for evidence-based decision-making and the use of evidence-based interventions in several chronic disease programs and whether the LHD participated in a formal, informal, or no AHD partnership.

Results: We received 376 valid responses (response rate 64.9%). There were 192 (51.6%) LHDs with a formal, 80 (21.6%) with an informal, and 99 (26.7%) with no AHD partnership. Participants with formal AHD partnerships reported higher perceived organizational supports for evidence-based decision-making and interventions compared with either informal or no AHD partnerships. The odds of providing 1 or more chronic disease evidence-based intervention were significantly higher in LHDs with formal AHD partnerships compared with LHDs with no AHD partnerships (adjusted odds ratio = 2.3; 95% confidence interval = 1.3, 4.0).

Conclusions: Formal academic-practice partnerships can be important means for advancing evidence-based decision-making and for implementing evidence-based programs and policies.

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References

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