Mobilizing knowledge from twenty years of research in evidence-informed decision making in public health in Canada and planning a research agenda for the future

Public health organizes and delivers services and programs in Canada to improve health and well-being while reducing health inequities13. Evidence-informed decision making in public health integrates research evidence alongside other knowledge, such as local context, community and political will, and financial and human resources19-22. When implemented, evidence-informed decision making can promote the efficient use of scarce resources and encourage stakeholder involvement, resulting in more effective, equity-oriented programs, improved transparency and accountability for organizations, and better health outcomes with reduced harms20-22. Expectations for EIDM have grown considerably, particularly after the release of the federal Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada (in 2008)1-3 and the introduction of evidence-informed decision making as a foundational practice standard in British Columbia and Ontario (in 2017 and 2018, respectively)4-6. While progress in evidence-informed decision making in public health has been made7, persistent challenges remain. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing cracks, showing that public health is ill-prepared to respond to new threats11. In the aftermath of COVID-19, it is essential to identify what is known, what gaps in knowledge remain, and what else is still needed for EIDM to ensure that public health is optimally equipped to respond to future threats in an evidence-informed way. Through this planning and dissemination grant, we will host a knowledge exchange event to: 1) review scientific evidence and practice-based implementation knowledge across Canada, to develop a guide for institutionalizing evidence-informed decision making in public health; and 2) develop a research agenda to guide future evidence-informed decision making research.