Evaluation criteria of evidence-based practices in health and wellbeing promotion in Finland

Decision makers and experts have a great need to receive independent and credible knowledge about the effectiveness of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for promoting health, wellbeing, and equity. Best practice portals that evaluate EBPs have developed for this need. However, the evaluation criteria by which the portals determine the degree of effectiveness, evidence, and practical applicability of EBPs may differ between portals and need further investigation. There do not exist a single framework for evaluation criteria. Although the randomised control trials may meet a gold standard, there are alternative approaches to evaluate EBPs, considering the complexity of health promotion and wellbeing interventions. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare started to develop the best practice portal in health and wellbeing promotion in 2019. In this workshop, we present the evaluation criteria of EBPs in Finland and how the approach may contribute to the evaluation of EBSs, knowledge base and management in health promotion and disease prevention policy. We will also reflect on the way we capture the complexity in our criteria.