Barriers to Implementing EBPH
Evidenced based public health has refers to incorporation of scientific research with what the community prefers in the aim of improving its health. To achieve this objective, the field of public health draws practitioners from various fields such as nurses, health educators, epidemiologists, doctors, biostatisticians, policy makers among others. According to Singh (2015) ,implementation of EBPH has for a long time been affected by both organizational and individual barriers. Mechanisms need to be put in place to address these barriers; otherwise the population will continue to suffer from the same challenges that have been facing them for a long time.
Research has identified organizational barriers to be related to lack of resources, heavy workload and limited internet services to carry out their tasks. Three individual barriers have been identified to be interfering with implementation of EBPH. They include a lack of time to add to their knowledge, language barriers and difficulties in using information technology. Resources refer to both human and capital. In as much as the public health field has a wide range of professionals, a small number actually practice. Similarly, there is an apparent lack of relevant capital to train more professionals to handle the growing population.
In order to overcome these and more challenges, more funding is required. The public health issues affect all people hence it would be necessary for concerned stakeholders to equip the field so that the overall objective may be accomplished (Lifsey, Cash, Anthon, Mathis & Silva, 2015)). The population needs are changing on a daily basis; hence practitioners have no option but to find ways of handling them. It is crucial to study the population’s characteristics which include cultural practices and values, language and preferences in order to be relevant while offering the services. At this age, language barrier should never be a challenge anymore. Integration of technology in provision of care has become an essential aspect of public health that public health practitioners cannot avoid. Organizational and individual barriers can be avoided with an adequate planning.
References
Top of Form
Singh, K. K. (January 01, 2015). Evidence-based public health: Barriers and facilitators to the transfer of knowledge into practice. Indian Journal of Public Health, 59, 2.)
Bottom of Form
Lifsey, S., Cash, A., Anthony, J., Mathis, S., & Silva, S. (2015). Building the Evidence Base for Population-Level Interventions Barriers and Opportunities. Health Education & Behavior, 42(1 suppl), 133S-140S.
