Evidence for Health: From Patient Choice to Global Policy is a practical guide to evidence-informed decision-making. It provides health practitioners and policy-makers with a broad overview of how to improve health and reduce health inequities, as well as the tools needed to make informed decisions that will have a positive influence on health. Chapters address questions such as: What are the major threats to health? What are the causes of poor health? What works to improve health? How do we know that it works? What are the barriers to implementation? What are the measures of success? The book provides an algorithm for arriving at evidence-informed decisions that take into consideration the multiple contextual factors and value judgements involved. Written by a specialist in public health with a wealth of international experience, this user-friendly guide demystifies the decision-making process, from personal decisions made by individual patients to global policy decisions.
• Explains why evidence is useful, how it is produced and how it should be communicated, helping readers make informed decisions about health • Addresses decision making from the personal decisions that individual patients make about their own health to global policy decisions that can impact the health of millions of people worldwide • Provides an algorithm that uses a series of questions for arriving at evidence-informed decisions, putting the concepts of evidence-based decision making into practice
Contents
Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgements; About the author; 1. Introduction; 2. Strategies for improving health; 3. Understanding how decisions influence health; 4. Producing evidence to inform health decisions; 5. Facilitators and barriers to using evidence; 6. Making evidence-informed decisions; 7. Conclusion; Index.
Reviews
'To enable individuals to be in control of their lives, action is needed on the social circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. Evidence for Health: From Patient Choice to Global Policy is an innovative and timely book that provides important insight on how to make more transparent and informed decisions that will result in healthier individuals and more equitable societies.' Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director, UCL Institute of Health Equity and former Chair, WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health
'… Andermann, in her thought-provoking book, points not only to the value of evidence but to the imperative to learn how to integrate it more systematically in all decisions related to health from local to global. Progress on this front would certainly contribute to better decisions and better health.' Dr Timothy Evans, Dean, BRAC School of Public Health, Bangladesh and former Assistant Director General, World Health Organization, Geneva
'Public health has too often focused on making recommendations about what people ought to do rather than considering what changes behaviours and policies. Drawing from multiple disciplines, Andermann thoughtfully addresses this challenge, reviewing how we make decisions that affect health - from the individual to the global level - and detailing how we can generate and best make use of evidence to reduce health inequities and improve people's health.' Dr Kumanan Rasanathan, Health Section, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York
'This book addresses key questions confronted by policymakers, health practitioners and the population at large. Written in a very simple and user-friendly manner, Evidence for Health will be a highly valuable tool for understanding and addressing health inequities in both developed and developing countries.' Saeed Awan, Director, Centre for the Improvement of Working Conditions and Environment, Government of Punjab, Pakistan
'A fresh, thoughtful, and panoramic look at the role of evidence in health. This book should be of interest to any student of public health or public policy.' Dr Peter Singer, Director, Sandra Rotman Centre, University Health Network and University of Toronto
'Decision-making is a complex process, particularly in medicine and public health. It frequently implies the simultaneous display of technical abilities, political appraisals, and moral judgements. Anne Andermann's book … makes this process accessible to all. I have no doubt that it will become an invaluable tool for health professionals working in clinical, management, and public health settings.' Julio Frenk, Harvard School of Public Health and former Minister of Health, Mexico
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