Title: New Evidence-Based Public Health Web Course
Author:
Section/SPIG: Community Health Planning and Policy Development
Issue Date:
"From Evidence to Practice: Addressing Disparities in Birth Outcomes", the new course released by The New York State Department of Health and the University at Albany School of Public Health, is for practitioners who have to make decisions related to improving birth outcomes. This free course at http://www.ebph.org was developed with support from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention Assessment Initiative and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Program, New York State Department of Health, and the New York New Jersey Public Health Training Center.A recent report by the organization Save the Children highlighted that the United States has among worst neonatal mortality rates in the developed world. This report also found higher neonatal death rates among U.S. minorities and disadvantaged groups. For black Americans, the neonatal mortality rate at 9.3 per 1,000 live births is more double that of Wwites at 3.9 per 1,000 live births and Hispanics or Latinos, with 3.8 deaths per 1,000 live births.
"From Evidence to Practice" is an engaging, self-paced online course, that teaches the evidence-based public health decision-making process by plunging learners into a realistic situation. In the course, learners are asked to use the evidence-based framework to research and identify an intervention strategy that addresses disparities in birth outcomes in a local community. Learners makes a series of choices about finding data to accurately describe the problem, evaluate interventions based on evidence and applicability to the community, and defend their choices. The course outcome - securing funding for interventions chosen - depends on sound evidence-based decision-making. As learners work through their assigned tasks in the course, feedback alerts them to how well they have understood the material presented. Upon finishing the course, that is estimated to take about three hours, users may print out a certificate of completion or receive continuing education credits.The course is approved for continuing education credits for health education, nursing and medical education.The course, developed by NYSDOH with the University at Albany, is being offered free in partnership with the NYNJ Public Health Training Center. More information is available at http://ebph.org/overview.cfm.