Training in EBPH improves the knowledge and skills of public health practitioners. Although there is a need for greater capacity in EBPH, training opportunities are often limited. Expanding the reach of EBPH training to more people and places (i.e., scaling up) is intended to result in a sufficient number (a “critical mass”) of practitioners who can apply and sustain evidence-based practices, which in turn can promote the culture for EBPH. Experience with scaling up EBPH training also and informs models of delivery that can be adapted for different settings.
Examples of scale-up efforts follow.
PRC EBPH Scale-Up Project
The PRC EBPH Scale-Up project, funded by the CDC, explored the added value of strategic collaborations among practice and academic partners to scale up Evidence-based Public Health training.
PROJECT AIM:To scale up Evidence-based Public Health training through collaborations among PRCs, State Health Departments, Public Health Training Centers, and other practice and policy partners.
BACKGROUND: The Prevention Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis (PRC-StL) invited three PRCs who had varying degrees and types of experience with EBPH training to participate in an EBPH Scale-up Pilot. Representatives from those sites served as a peer network and advisory body to PRC-StL. Beginning in March 2021, advisory meetings were held every other month via Zoom to discuss progress, share ideas, develop common evaluation tools. and plan for scale-up.
GOALS:
- A public health workforce skilled in evidence-based decision making
- Increased use of evidence-based decision making in public health practice
- Coordinated and sustained training efforts by academic and practice partners
- Productive and mutually beneficial relationships among academic and practice partners
The three participating PRCs worked with their state health departments and Public Health Training Centers to offer EBPH training, each using a different delivery format: in person, online, or hybrid.
Each site presented their project in a “showcase” meeting to colleagues at CDC and NACDD.
LESSONS LEARNED: Several suggestions for ways to move forward were made over the 19-month period the group met and worked on scaling up the EBPH training in their respective sites. Through site reports, interviews, and group discussions, the Advisory Group identified several core elements of support that would allow EBPH training to continue and sustain in their PRCs:
- Leadership support from SHDs
- Champions for the training (within PRCs and in SHDs)
- Strong training partners, in particular Public Health Training Centers
- Stable funding
- Dedicated staff time/ core infrastructure
- Institutionalized & clear roles for each partner (established relationships)
- External (PRC-StL) support
Findings are published here: Link to article in Publication