Principles and Application of Evidence-Based Public Health Practice

Public health is a multidisciplinary field and is practiced in a complex environment. Various cadres like epidemiologists, policymakers, implementors, program managers, economists, social scientists, nutritionists, clinicians, administrators/executives, data or information managers, and others practice public health. However, the understanding and practice of public health vary across the human resource spectrum, further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, there is a need for standardized and comprehensive guidelines to teach and practice public health especially catering to public health practitioners who are not formally trained in public health and scholars of public health bachelors. Evidence-based public health practice (EBPHP) is one of the important solutions for the ethical and effective implementation of public health interventions.

Principles and Application of Evidence-based Public Health Practice helps build the capacity and enhances the quality of services delivered as part of public health practice. It will provide a basic understanding of various determinants (e.g., psycho-social, environmental, and political) of health and public health approaches (from policy to local practice level) applicable to EBPHP. The core areas of public health, namely epidemiology, biostatistics, social sciences/health promotion, health management, health economics, environmental and occupational health, nutrition, and public health research, are covered in this book comprehensively in a manner to cross-learn from each other.

• Facilitates an in-depth understanding of basic principles of public health practice and its practical application.
• Includes the basic principles of public health research and ethics.
• Uses case studies to discuss the public health strategies and approaches to be considered during routine day-to-day practice and a public health emergency.
• Helps build the capacity of public health practitioners with a futuristic view, including technology-based and precision public health practice.

Dr. Kathirvel MD, MBBS is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh after working with International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases. He has more than ten years of working experience in community medicine/public health area. He is an alumnus of WHO SORT IT Course and International Agency for Research on Cancer Summer School on “Cancer Epidemiology and Survival Methods”. He is a mentor for national and international SORT IT courses. He has more than 70 publications in national and international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. He is the principal/co-principal investigator of various community-based research on important public health problems. His area of research interest includes Primary health/Rural health, Non-Communicable Diseases, Tuberculosis, Operational/Implementation Research, and Digital Health.

Dr. Singh MD worked as the Professor and Head of Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh. He’s published over 160 research articles/editorials in national and international journals and written 80+ chapters in different books. Dr. Singh has presented his research findings in various national and international conferences and completed 50 research projects on various public health related subjects (including 8 RCTs). His main research interest has been women’s health, health promotion, care of dependent and elderly (he has published a book each on these areas). He has been a co-author of 18 books (Hindi and English). He has also edited a book each on ‘Health Promotion’, ’Comprehensive Textbook of Elderly Care’ and on ‘Demedicalizing Women’s Health’. He was the editor of the Indian Journal of Community Medicine from 2004 to 2010.

Dr. Chockalingam MS, PhD, FACC, FAHA currently serves as adjunct professor with Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto and Secretary General of the World Hypertension League. He was previously the founding Director of the Office of Global Health at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health between 2010 and 2013. Dr. Chockalingam's experience encompasses a unique combination of global health research, policy, training, and administration in addition to international leadership within the global health community. He is a co-author of the Institute of Medicine’s March 2010 report, Promoting Cardiovascular Health in the Developing World: A Critical Challenge to Achieve Global Health, which lays out a vision for curbing and ultimately preventing cardiovascular disease in low-and middle-income countries. Dr. Chockalingam is passionate about global health research and has established research collaborations in China, India, Germany, Malaysia, Kenya, and Argentina. His multidisciplinary research interests go beyond cardiovascular health into household air pollution, mental health as well as congruency of health, agriculture and economics. Dr. Chockalingam has published over 160 papers and 11 book chapters, served as an editorial board member and reviewer for numerous journals and was editor-in- chief of the Journal of Hypertension Control (1994-1999) and associate editor of CVD Prevention (1992-1988).