Scandinavian journal of public health
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Scand J Public Health · Mar 2014
Methodological pluralism in the age of evidence-informed practice and policy.
The use of evidence in practice and policy in public health and social services is a tricky endeavour. While virtually every practitioner, manager, or policy maker would agree that evidence should be used, there is disagreement about the nature of evidence and which evidence should be used, how, when, in what circumstances, and for whom. ⋯ This paper will discuss the use of evidence in practice in what is arguably the most complex helping environment - social services - detailing the emergence and evolution of evidence-informed practice, dispelling some myths about its structure and application, and linking it to the broader origins and structure of the social and governmental systems in which it operates. Using this expanded view, the paper will then describe some useful approaches for incorporating these larger considerations into the use of evidence in practice.
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Scand J Public Health · Mar 2014
Organisation of evidence-based knowledge production: evidence hierarchies and evidence typologies.
The evidence movement and the idea of systematically synthesising results from primary studies has gained support in recent years. As the movement has moved into still more policy fields, from medical treatment to, for example, public health, social welfare, and education, review practice has also been developed. ⋯ In addition to analysing and discussing this development, the article discusses the organisation of dissemination of evidence. This topic is interesting because it is part of the self-perception of the evidence movement that evidence should be brought to use in both practice and policy making.