Dr. Ross Brownson, previously served as the State Chronic Disease Director in Missouri and is currently the Bernard Becker Professor of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis and Co-Director of the Prevention Research Center.  His work is characterized by applying scholarly rigor to areas with direct relevance to the practice of public health, particularly for chronic disease prevention and health promotion.   The topic we cover in this episode, administrative evidence-based practices or AEBPs, is a prime example of this approach.  

Although our conversation is grounded on rigorous peer-reviewed work (Brownson et. al. 2012 AJPM – see link), it struck me that the questions being addressed were both accessible and foundational for the practitioner:  What characteristics make health departments effective?  Where do I have influence to actually make a change?  What are some tools that can support the change?

We start off taking a high-level overview of AEBP’s, what they are, and how they relate to Evidence-Based Public Health and Evidence-Based Decision-Making. We learn about the different categories of AEBP’s and discuss the concept of “high-priority, locally-modifiable AEBPs.”  

We then take a closer look into the five major categories of high priority modifiable AEBPs:

• Workforce Development
• Leadership
• Organizational Climate and Culture
• Relationships and Partnerships
• Financial

In keeping with the theme of the challenge of “Learn, Lead, and Thrive” we take a deeper look into AEBPs related to Leadership and Organizational Climate and Culture.

We end the conversation with some practical tips and tools, specifically the “Administrative Evidence-Based Practices Assessment Tool”  which teams, including managers and front-line professionals, can use to assess the extent to which AEBPs are supported in their organization. (see link below)

We covered a lot of territory in this episode, but our time was short so I encourage you to pick one area that resonates with you, explore it further and find a way to integrate it in to your work.