Research Guides: Evidence-Based Public Health: Evidence-Based Resources

Evidenced-Based Guidelines

Evidence-based guidelines (EBG) is the practice of evidence-based medicine at the organizational or institutional level. This includes the production of guidelines, policy, and regulations. The guidelines provide summaries of evidence and recommendations for practice from government agencies, professional organizations, and convening expert panels.

Cochrane Collaboration Evidence Aid Project
The Cochrane Collaboration's Evidence Aid project was established by the Cochrane Collaboration following the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December 2004. It uses knowledge from Cochrane Reviews and other systematic reviews to provide reliable, up-to-date evidence on interventions that might be considered in the context of natural disasters and other major healthcare emergencies. Evidence Aid seeks to highlight which interventions work, which don't work, which need more research, and which, no matter how well-meaning, might be harmful; and to provide this information to agencies and people planning for, or responding to, disasters. See http://www.cochrane.org/cochrane-reviews/evidence-aid-project for more information and to access these freely available guides.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK
NICE guidance supports healthcare professionals and others to make sure that the care they provide is of the best possible quality and offers the best value for money. NICE provides independent, authoritative and evidence-based guidance on the most effective ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease and ill health, reducing inequalities and variation
The Guide to Community Preventive Services
The Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide) is a free resource to help you choose programs and policies to improve health and prevent disease in your community. The Community Guide is a resource for evidence-based task force recommendations from an independent, nonfederal, uncompensated body of public health and prevention experts, whose members are appointed by the Director of CDC.
The MMWR Recommendations and Reports
The MMWR Recommendations and Reports contain in-depth articles that relay policy statements for prevention and treatment on all areas in CDC's scope of responsibility (e.g., recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices).
The National Guideline Clearinghouse
The National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) is an initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NGC mission is to provide physicians and other health professionals, health care providers, health plans, integrated delivery systems, purchasers, and others an accessible mechanism for obtaining objective, detailed information on clinical practice guidelines and to further their dissemination, implementation, and use.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) was convened by the Public Health Service to rigorously evaluate clinical research in order to assess the merits of preventive measures, including screening tests, counseling, immunizations, and preventive medications. This list includes all recommendations: active, inactive, and in progress.

Best Practices

Public health programs, interventions, strategy and policies that are supported by evidence for its impact and effectiveness.

Canadian Best Practices Portal
Canadian Best Practices Portal (Public Health Agency of Canada) – Compendium of community interventions related to chronic disease prevention and health promotion that have been evaluated, shown to be successful, and have the potential to be adapted and replicated by other health practitioners working in similar fields.
Model System Default
Model Practice Database (National Association of County and City Health Officials) – Collection of projects from around the United States highlighting successful public health projects.
National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices
National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) – Searchable online registry of interventions supporting mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.
Promising Practices Network
Promising Practices Network (RAND Corporation) – Collection of summaries of successful projects, programs and practices addressing the needs of children and youth.
Research-tested Intervention Programs
Research-tested Intervention Programs (RTIPs) (National Cancer Institute) – Searchable database of cancer control interventions and program materials that have been shown to be effective, published in a peer-reviewed journal, and reviewed by a panel of experts in the field.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the literature which review a body of data that uses explicit methods to locate primary studies and explicit criteria to assess and synthesize the evidence from research studies. The reviews uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence and identify gaps in current research.

Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews
Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews (The Campbell Collaboration) – Systematic reviews on the effects of interventions within the areas of education, criminal justice, social welfare, and international development.
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Databases
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Databases (University of York, UK) – Collection of searchable databases for systematic reviews, economic evaluations, and health technology assessments from around the world.
Cochrane Library
Cochrane Library (John Wiley and Sons) – Collection of six databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, and a seventh database that provides information about groups in The Cochrane Collaboration.
EPPI
EPPI (Evidence for Practice and Policy Information) Centre (Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, UK) – Collection of searchable databases of reviews related to health promotion and intervention.
Evidence Base
Evidence Base (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, UK) – Evidence briefing papers and evidence reviews developed by the former Health Development Agency, UK.
Evidence Based Health Promotion
Evidence Based Health Promotion (Victorian State Government, Department of Human Services, Australia) – Series of reviews containing current evidence and critical appraisal related to several public health topics.
Health Evidence Bulletins Wales
Health Evidence Bulletins Wales (Duthie Library, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK) – Collection of published documents outlining current clinical evidence for several health topics.
Health-Evidence.ca
Health-Evidence.ca (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) – Searchable collection of systematic reviews for topics in health promotion and public health interventions (in both French and English).
PubMed Systematic Reviews
PubMed Systematic Reviews (National Library of Medicine) Provides specialized searches of the PubMed database to retrieve citations identified as systematic reviews, meta-analyses, reviews of clinical trials, evidence-based medicine, consensus development conferences, and guidelines.

Filtered Searches

Specialized searches of PubMed/MEDLINE on a specific public health topic or a category.

Health People 2020 Structured Evidence Queries
Healthy People 2020 Structured Evidence Queries (National Library of Medicine) – Provides specialized searches of the PubMed database to find research articles related to selected Healthy People 2020 objectives.
Healthy People 2010 Information Access Project
Healthy People 2010 Information Access Project (National Library of Medicine and the Public Health Foundation) – Provides specialized searches of the PubMed database to find research articles related to selected Healthy People 2010 objectives.
PubMed Clinical Queries
PubMed Clinical Queries (National Library of Medicine) – Provides searches of the PubMed database for citations specific to clinical research areas.
PubMed Health Services Research
PubMed Health Services Research (HSR) Queries (National Library of Medicine) – Provides specialized PubMed searches on healthcare quality and costs.