Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteria

IntroductionThe evaluation of practices is a valuable source of evidence in the context of an evidence-based approach to public health. Best practice portals (BPPs) are promising tools for facilitating access to recommended programmes, monitoring and improving the quality of interventions. There are...

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Main Authors: Maria Piotrowicz, Małgorzata Gajewska, Katarzyna Lewtak, Ewa Urban, Anna Rutyna, Aneta Nitsch-Osuch
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1480078/full
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author Maria Piotrowicz
Małgorzata Gajewska
Katarzyna Lewtak
Katarzyna Lewtak
Ewa Urban
Anna Rutyna
Aneta Nitsch-Osuch
author_facet Maria Piotrowicz
Małgorzata Gajewska
Katarzyna Lewtak
Katarzyna Lewtak
Ewa Urban
Anna Rutyna
Aneta Nitsch-Osuch
author_sort Maria Piotrowicz
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionThe evaluation of practices is a valuable source of evidence in the context of an evidence-based approach to public health. Best practice portals (BPPs) are promising tools for facilitating access to recommended programmes, monitoring and improving the quality of interventions. There are several such portals in Europe, but there is little work in the scientific literature on the subject. The study aimed to identify and characterise BPPs in health promotion and disease prevention and analyse the approaches, definitions, and criteria for evaluating interventions.MethodsTo identify portals, websites of public health institutions and organisations, the PubMed database and grey literature were searched. The material consisted of elements of each portal’s design, information available on their websites, and collected publications. The study applied a qualitative analysis with a descriptive approach and covered a detailed description of the four selected portals.ResultsAmong the analysed BPPs, three were from the European region, and one was from Canada (pioneer in developing best practice tools). The dates of launching the portals ranged from the year 2003 to 2016. The number of interventions collected in the databases ranged from 120 to 337. Portals were useful, well-designed, and developed tools. BPPs differed in terms of their objectives and roles, adopted standards and criteria for assessing practices, and other operational factors. In each portal, interventions underwent a rigorous and multilevel assessment process conducted by independent experts in the field and based on intervention evaluation criteria. Generally, the analysed catalogues described similar issues, e.g., Selection of the issue addressed by the practice, Description of a particular element of the practice, Theoretical foundation, or Evaluation/Effectiveness. However, we identified both similarities and differences in the adopted terms (names of criteria) and their definitions. It was shown that sometimes the same criterion had different names depending on the catalogue. On the other hand, criteria with identical or similar names could be defined differently within the detailed thematic scope.ConclusionThe similarities and differences presented in this work can serve as a valuable starting point for designing such tools to support practice-based and evidence-based decision-making in health promotion and disease prevention.
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spelling doaj-art-efd30c44554a4265a71d82dee24a576a2025-01-28T06:41:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652025-01-011310.3389/fpubh.2025.14800781480078Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteriaMaria Piotrowicz0Małgorzata Gajewska1Katarzyna Lewtak2Katarzyna Lewtak3Ewa Urban4Anna Rutyna5Aneta Nitsch-Osuch6Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute, Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute, Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute, Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute, Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute, Warsaw, PolandDepartment of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, PolandIntroductionThe evaluation of practices is a valuable source of evidence in the context of an evidence-based approach to public health. Best practice portals (BPPs) are promising tools for facilitating access to recommended programmes, monitoring and improving the quality of interventions. There are several such portals in Europe, but there is little work in the scientific literature on the subject. The study aimed to identify and characterise BPPs in health promotion and disease prevention and analyse the approaches, definitions, and criteria for evaluating interventions.MethodsTo identify portals, websites of public health institutions and organisations, the PubMed database and grey literature were searched. The material consisted of elements of each portal’s design, information available on their websites, and collected publications. The study applied a qualitative analysis with a descriptive approach and covered a detailed description of the four selected portals.ResultsAmong the analysed BPPs, three were from the European region, and one was from Canada (pioneer in developing best practice tools). The dates of launching the portals ranged from the year 2003 to 2016. The number of interventions collected in the databases ranged from 120 to 337. Portals were useful, well-designed, and developed tools. BPPs differed in terms of their objectives and roles, adopted standards and criteria for assessing practices, and other operational factors. In each portal, interventions underwent a rigorous and multilevel assessment process conducted by independent experts in the field and based on intervention evaluation criteria. Generally, the analysed catalogues described similar issues, e.g., Selection of the issue addressed by the practice, Description of a particular element of the practice, Theoretical foundation, or Evaluation/Effectiveness. However, we identified both similarities and differences in the adopted terms (names of criteria) and their definitions. It was shown that sometimes the same criterion had different names depending on the catalogue. On the other hand, criteria with identical or similar names could be defined differently within the detailed thematic scope.ConclusionThe similarities and differences presented in this work can serve as a valuable starting point for designing such tools to support practice-based and evidence-based decision-making in health promotion and disease prevention.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1480078/fullbest practicegood practicepromising practiceinterventionportalhealth promotion
spellingShingle Maria Piotrowicz
Małgorzata Gajewska
Katarzyna Lewtak
Katarzyna Lewtak
Ewa Urban
Anna Rutyna
Aneta Nitsch-Osuch
Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteria
Frontiers in Public Health
best practice
good practice
promising practice
intervention
portal
health promotion
title Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteria
title_full Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteria
title_fullStr Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteria
title_full_unstemmed Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteria
title_short Best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention: approaches, definitions, and intervention evaluation criteria
title_sort best practice portals in health promotion and disease prevention approaches definitions and intervention evaluation criteria
topic best practice
good practice
promising practice
intervention
portal
health promotion
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1480078/full
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