Innovative strategies for the implementation of best practices
Abstract The Netherlands’ best practice portal for health promotion interventions includes approximately 350 interventions. The aim of the portal is to support policy and practice with evidence based information. There are five different levels to indicate the strength of their evidence base. In 2014, a study on the implementation of the best practices included in the portal showed that health promotion practitioners often do not implement them. One of the arguments given to opt for other interventions than those listed in the portal was the assumption that the ‘standard interventions’ will not fit their particular local context, and that adjusting a best practice is not possible. We will present the criteria and procedure of the assessment of the quality, effectiveness and the feasibility of health promotion interventions. There after we present two strategies to increase and improve the take up of best practice implementation. The first strategy is to describe and present the core elements of the interventions. This strategy facilitates the possibility for the sound adjustments of a best practice. The second strategy is to identify the common effective elements of a group of interventions, and present that information in an accessible way to policy-makers and practitioners. Effective elements were identified through systematic reviews in combination with focus group interviews with health promotion practitioners. The result is a What works document (What works, What probably works, What doesn’t work and What’s unclear). An example of the second strategy is a synthesis of the effective elements of fall prevention interventions. These elements were translated into a practical user’s guide, and illustrated with best practice interventions from the portal. Policy-makers and health promotion practitioners appreciated the new way of presenting the best practices.