Table of Contents

SECTION 1: TOWARDS EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY AND PRACTICE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
1: Mel Bartley, Martin Bobak, Michael Marmot: Patterns and trends in inequalities in health: an international phenomenon
2: Michael Kelly: The development of an evidence based approach to tackling health inequalities in England
3: Hilary Graham: Social determinants and public health policy in the UK
SECTION 2: SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES FOR DEVELOPING AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO TACKLING HEALTH INEQUALITIES
4: Christine McGuire: Building the evidence base - the contribution of the Department of Health's Policy Research Programme (England)
5: Amanda Sowden, Julie Glanville: The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD)
6: Mike Clarke: The Cochrane Collaboration
7: Sandy Oliver, James Thomas, Angela Harden, Ann Oakley: Accumulating evidence to bring policy, practice and research together
8: M Petticrew, M Whitehead, C Bambra, M Egan, H Graham, S MacIntyre, E McDermott: The Centre for Evidence-based Public Health Policy: part of the ESRC Evidence Network
9: Kristin Liabo, Sarah Frost, Di McNeish, Helen Roberts, Trevor Sheldon: What Works for Children?
10: Peter Littlejohns: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
11: Alison Weightman, E Coyle: Health Evidence Bulletins Wales
12: Erica Wimbush, H Harper, D Wright, L Gruer, L Lowther, J Gordon, S Fraser: Evidence, policy and practice - developing collaborative approaches in Scotland
SECTION 3: CONCEPTS AND METHODS FOR EVALUATION AND SYNTHESIS OF THE EVIDENCE: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
13: Ray Pawson: Simple Principles for the Evaluation of Complex Programmes
14: Martyn Hammersley: Systematic or Unsystematic, is that the question? Some reflections on the science, art and politics of reviewing research evidence
15: Sandy Oliver, James Thomas, Angela Harden, Jonathan Shepherd, Ann Oakley: Research synthesis for tackling health inequalities: lessons from methods developed within systematic reviews with a focus on marginalised groups
16: Mary Dixon-Woods: Evidence from qualitative and quantitative research
17: Catherine Swann, Bhash Naidoo, Michael P Kelly: Evidence for public health practice: conceptual and methodological challenges
18: Helen Roberts, Lisa Arai, Katrina Roen, Jennie Popay: What evidence do we have on implementation?
19: Jack Dowie: The Bayesian approach to decision making
SECTION 4: PUTTING EVIDENCE INTO POLICY AND PRACTICE: EXAMPLES AND LESSONS
20: Catherine Dennison, Geraldine McCormick: Teenage pregnancy policy and practice: the application of evidence
21: Amanda Killoran, Lesley Owen, Linda Bauld: Smoking cessation: an evidence-based approach to tackling health inequalities?
22: Mark Johnson: Ethnicity
23: Jean Peters, Elizabeth Goyder: Tackling health inequalities at the community level: Neighbourhood Renewal and the New Deal for Communities
24: Dione Hill, Elliott Stern: Healthy Living Centres
25: Michaela Benzeval: Health Action Zones
26: Diane Ketley, Rose Gollop: Evidence into practice for service improvement in health care: experience from the NHS Modernisation Agency
SECTION 5: DEVELOPMENTS AND EXPERIENCES INTERNATIONALLY
27: Meri Koivusalo: Public policies and inequalities and health - challenges and lessons from Finland
28: Bernt Lundgren, Sven Andréasson, Sven Bremberg, Carina Källestål, Paul Nordgren, Liselotte Schäfer Elinder, Eva Wallin: Sweden
29: John Frank, Cam Mustard, Jim Dunn, Nancy Ross, Ericia Di Ruggiero: Assessing and Addressing Health Inequalities: The Canadian Experience
30: Lesley Boydell, Jane Wilde: An evidence based approach to public health and tackling health inequalities in Ireland and Northern Ireland
SECTION 6: THE FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
31: Phil Hanlon: Bringing about social change-implications for health
32: Hilary Graham: Tackling health inequalities: improving the health of poor groups, narrowing health gaps and reducing health gradients
33: Michael P Kelly: Mapping the life world: a future research priority for public health

Reviews

Although we have a wealth of information about evidence-based practice in healthcare very little has been written about evidence-based public health to date. This year has seen the emergence of the first texts along thsee lines and one would hope that they will encourage the principles of evidence-based practice to filter into public health practice...[recommended] to individuals working in applied public health settings, particularly newcomers to the field, researchers, and students on public health courses. Critical Public Health ...this book provides a useful picture of the current level of development of evidence-based public health policy and practice, and specifically action to address health inequalities in the UK. It has a practical 'real life' focus and will be of interest primarily to academics and public health practitioners based in the UK. ...Overall, cause for optimism isprovided with some significant advances being made in public health research methods and creative ideas about future directions being displayed. s