*** Hi Alison.

On a closely related topic, the BMJ (2002, 325:1496-98) has also a
very interesting paper written by the CRAP writing group (Clinicians
for the restoration of autonomous practice...) and titled
EBM[Evidence based medicine]:unmasking the ugly truth, which
denounces with typical English humour the "religion" of EBM from the
perspective of clinicians.

More seriously, on the Canadian scene, the Canadian consortium of
Health Promotion Research
http://www.utoronto.ca/chp/chp/consort/index.htm has written, under
the pen of Suzanne Jackson et al., a wonderful paper on the issues
linked to the fad of evidence based health promotion; it can be
downloaded at
http://www.utoronto.ca/chp/chp/consort/workingpapers.htm and reviews
in a critical manner most of the current canandian and international
inititatives ( including the Cochrane connection and the UK
initiativs alluded to below) to assess the effectiveness of health
promotion practices. The consortium is supposed to undertake soon a
major review of the effectiveness of communiuty projects in Canada.
Co-chairs of the consortium are Irving Rootman <[log in to unmask]> and
Marcia Hills <[log in to unmask]>, both at the University of Victoria.

On the international scene, WHO and the International Union of Health
Promotion and Education (IUHPE) http://www.iuhpe.org have recently
launched a major international project called the Global Health
Promotion Effectiveness Project (GHPEP), whereby each of the
"regions" (read here continents) of WHO-IUHPE will contribute a
piece. The North American one will be led by Irving Rootman.

Michel O'Neill. ***



>Greetings and well-wishes for a happy & healthy new year.
>
>Today's issue of the British Medical Journal contains an interesting and
>provocative editorial on changing the ways that governments look at
>'effectiveness evidence' of strategies to change socio-economic inequalities
>in health.  I have copied in the citation, link to the full text, and
>excerpts from the editorial, into this message below my signature
>
>It would be good to promote and disseminate Canadian research on 'evidence
>of effectiveness' and set some new markers for measures of effective
>practice.  Any suggestions?
>
>Alison
>
>~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
>Alison Stirling, health promotion consultant
>Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse (OPC)
>Suite 1900, 180 Dundas St. W. Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8
>Tel. 416-408-2249  Email: [log in to unmask]
>Internet: http://www.opc.on.ca
>~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
>
>
>Evidence based policy making
>      Sally Macintyre
>      BMJ 2003;326 5-6
>      http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7379/5?etoc
>
>Evidence based policy making
>Impact on health inequalities still needs to be assessed
>
>... "Several governments have recently proposed strategies to reduce
>socioeconomic inequalities in health.  An issue rendering strategy
>development in this field difficult is that, although a lot of information
>is available about the magnitude and causes of socioeconomic inequalities in
>health, rather less information is available about the effectiveness of
>policies in reducing them."
>"..anyone wanting to reduce inequalities in health is faced with a lack of
>information about what actions would be most successful."
>
>... "If governments are serious about wanting to reduce inequalities in
>health they should not necessarily wait until we have better evidence about
>the relative effectiveness of different strategies. They should encourage
>the systematic collation and dissemination of the best international
>evidence of effectiveness, as has been done in Sweden and the Netherlands,
>and is being done in the United Kingdom through the Health Development
>Agency's "Evidence into Practice" programme. They should encourage research
>studies and routine statistics to be designed so that differential effects
>on, or trends among, different socioeconomic groups can be detected. Most
>importantly, they should design and implement social and public health
>initiatives in ways which facilitate good quality evaluations of
>effectiveness and monitoring of impact on health inequalities."
>
>Sally Macintyre, Director.
>Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Glasgow G12
>8RZ ([log in to unmask])
>
>Send one line: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] to unsubscribe
>See: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html to alter your
>subscription

--
Michel O'Neill, Ph.D.

**************************************************************************

Adresse Postale: Faculte des Sciences infirmieres; 4108-J Pavillon
Paul-Comtois, Universite Laval, Quebec, Qc, Canada, G1K 7P4.
Localisation de mon nouveau bureau: Faculte des Sciences infirmieres;
1038-F Pavillon Lacerte, Universite Laval, Quebec, Qc, Canada, G1K
7P4.
tel: +1-(418)-656-2131 #7431; telecopieur: +1-(418)-656-7825
Courrier electronique: [log in to unmask]
**************************************************************************

Send one line: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] to unsubscribe
See: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html to alter your subscription