This article is part of the supplement: SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed health Policymaking (STP) .

Guide

SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed Policymaking in health 11: Finding and using evidence about local conditions

Simon Lewin¹ , Andrew D Oxman² , John N Lavis³ , Atle Fretheim⁴ , Sebastian Garcia Marti⁵ and Susan Munabi-Babigumira⁶

¹  Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, P.O. Box 7004, St. Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo, Norway; Health Systems Research Unit, Medical Research Council of South Africa

²  Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, P.O. Box 7004, St. Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo, Norway

³  Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Department of Political Science, McMaster University, 1200 Main St. West, HSC-2D3, Hamilton, ON, Canada, L8N 3Z5

⁴  Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, P.O. Box 7004, St. Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo, Norway; Section for International Health, Institute of General Practice and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway

⁵  Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy, Viamonte 2146, 3rd floor, C1056ABH, Buenos Aires, Argentina

⁶  Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, P.O. Box 7004, St. Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo, Norway

author email corresponding author email

Health Research Policy and Systems 2009, 7(Suppl 1):S11doi:10.1186/1478-4505-7-S1-S11

Published:	16 December 2009

Abstract

This article is part of a series written for people responsible for making decisions about health policies and programmes and for those who support these decision makers.

Evidence about local conditions is evidence that is available from the specific setting(s) in which a decision or action on a policy or programme option will be taken. Such evidence is always needed, together with other forms of evidence, in order to inform decisions about options. Global evidence is the best starting point for judgements about effects, factors that modify those effects, and insights into ways to approach and address problems. But local evidence is needed for most other judgements about what decisions and actions should be taken. In this article, we suggest five questions that can help to identify and appraise the local evidence that is needed to inform a decision about policy or programme options. These are: 1. What local evidence is needed to inform a decision about options? 2. How can the necessary local evidence be found? 3. How should the quality of the available local evidence be assessed? 4. Are there important variations in the availability, quality or results of local evidence? 5. How should local evidence be incorporated with other information?