Allan Best
Biographic Data
| ID | 5412604 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Allan Best |
| GIVEN NAMES | Allan |
| FAMILY NAME | Best |
| SIGNATURE | BEST A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of British Columbia |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1569-4431 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 49 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Strengthening health systems in low-income countries by enhancing organizational capacities and improving institutions
BACKGROUND: This paper argues that the global health agenda tends to privilege short-term global interests at the expense of long-term capacity building within national and community health systems. The Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) movement needs to focus on developing the capacity of local organizations and the institutions that influence how such organizations interact with local and international stakeholders. DISCUSSION: While instituti…
Systems thinking for transformational change in health
Incremental approaches to introducing change in Canada’s health systems have not sufficiently improved the quality of services and outcomes. Further progress requires ‘large system transformation’, considered to be the systematic effort to generate coordinated change across organisations sharing a common vision and goal. This essay draws on ongoing dialogue relating to transformation, and examines transformative efforts in the Saskatchewan health…
The Complexity of Institutionalizing Evaluation as a Best Practice in North American Quitlines
Tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in North America and Quitlines are one of the primary cessation resources available to assist tobacco users with quitting. Implementation of best practices is important to the success of quitlines, but unfortunately, it is a complex and elusive process often difficult to achieve. This study aims to better understand the implementation process by using qualitative…
Networks to Strengthen Health Systems for Chronic Disease Prevention
Interorganizational networks that harness the priorities, capacities, and skills of various agencies and individuals have emerged as useful approaches for strengthening preventive services in public health systems. We use examples from the Canadian Heart Health Initiative and Alberta’s Primary Care Networks to illustrate characteristics of networks, describe the limitations of existing frameworks for assessing the performance of prevention-orient…
Large‐System Transformation in Health Care
Context: An evidence base that addresses issues of complexity and context is urgently needed for large‐system transformation (LST) and health care reform. Fundamental conceptual and methodological challenges also must be addressed. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health in Canada requested a six‐month synthesis project to guide four major policy development and strategy initiatives focused on patient‐ and family‐centered care, primary health care re…
Knowledge integration in public health
There are tradeoffs in knowledge synthesis – for example, between comprehensiveness and timeliness, between generalisability and policy relevance. The tradeoffs are particularly challenging for public health. A growing international community is grappling with building more relevant and useful knowledge bases, to facilitate use of this knowledge in policy and practice. These questions guided a knowledge synthesis using a novel ‘rapid review’ meth…
Rethinking health systems strengthening
While reaching consensus on future plans to address current global health challenges is far from easy, there is broad agreement that reductionist approaches that suggest a limited set of targeted interventions to improve health around the world are inadequate. We argue that a comprehensive systems perspective should guide health practice, education, research and policy. We propose key 'systems thinking' tools and strategies that have the potentia…
Strengthening health systems through networks
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia, Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, InSource Research Group, Vancouver, BC, Canada and Centre…
Systems thinking, knowledge and action
The way we think about how research, policy and practice inform and interact with each other shapes our efforts to improve health and social outcomes. In this paper we describe linear, relationship and systems models with regard to how they approach bridging evidence and policy/practice, or turning knowledge into action. We contribute to the knowledge to action (KTA) systems thinking discussion by highlighting four interconnected aspects of this …
Evaluating the Science of Discovery in Complex Health Systems
Complex health problems such as chronic disease or pandemics require knowledge that transcends disciplinary boundaries to generate solutions. Such transdisciplinary discovery requires researchers to work and collaborate across boundaries, combining elements of basic and applied science. At the same time, calls for more interdisciplinary health science acknowledge that there are few metrics to evaluate the products associated with these new ways o…
A Shared Vision for Public Health
Systems Thinking to Improve the Public's Health
Youth Tobacco Cessation Collaborative and National Blueprint for Action
Lessons learned about effective partnership are reviewed, and future directions are described
Health Promotion Dissemination and Systems Thinking
Systems thinking has potential to improve synthesis, translation, and dissemination of research findings in other health promotion initiatives
Complementary Therapy Use in HIV/Aids
Systems thinking, knowledge and action
The way we think about how research, policy and practice inform and interact with each other shapes our efforts to improve health and social outcomes. In this paper we describe linear, relationship and systems models with regard to how they approach bridging evidence and policy/practice, or turning knowledge into action. We contribute to the knowledge to action (KTA) systems thinking discussion by highlighting four interconnected aspects of this …
Strengthening health systems through networks
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia, Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, InSource Research Group, Vancouver, BC, Canada and Centre…
The Complexity of Institutionalizing Evaluation as a Best Practice in North American Quitlines
Tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in North America and Quitlines are one of the primary cessation resources available to assist tobacco users with quitting. Implementation of best practices is important to the success of quitlines, but unfortunately, it is a complex and elusive process often difficult to achieve. This study aims to better understand the implementation process by using qualitative…
Evaluating the Science of Discovery in Complex Health Systems
Complex health problems such as chronic disease or pandemics require knowledge that transcends disciplinary boundaries to generate solutions. Such transdisciplinary discovery requires researchers to work and collaborate across boundaries, combining elements of basic and applied science. At the same time, calls for more interdisciplinary health science acknowledge that there are few metrics to evaluate the products associated with these new ways o…
Complementary Therapy Use in HIV/Aids
Complementary Therapy Use in HIV/Aids
Youth Tobacco Cessation Collaborative and National Blueprint for Action
Lessons learned about effective partnership are reviewed, and future directions are described
Health Promotion Dissemination and Systems Thinking
Systems thinking has potential to improve synthesis, translation, and dissemination of research findings in other health promotion initiatives
Systems Thinking to Improve the Public's Health
Systems thinking, knowledge and action
The way we think about how research, policy and practice inform and interact with each other shapes our efforts to improve health and social outcomes. In this paper we describe linear, relationship and systems models with regard to how they approach bridging evidence and policy/practice, or turning knowledge into action. We contribute to the knowledge to action (KTA) systems thinking discussion by highlighting four interconnected aspects of this …
Evaluating the Science of Discovery in Complex Health Systems
Complex health problems such as chronic disease or pandemics require knowledge that transcends disciplinary boundaries to generate solutions. Such transdisciplinary discovery requires researchers to work and collaborate across boundaries, combining elements of basic and applied science. At the same time, calls for more interdisciplinary health science acknowledge that there are few metrics to evaluate the products associated with these new ways o…
A Shared Vision for Public Health
Large‐System Transformation in Health Care
Context: An evidence base that addresses issues of complexity and context is urgently needed for large‐system transformation (LST) and health care reform. Fundamental conceptual and methodological challenges also must be addressed. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health in Canada requested a six‐month synthesis project to guide four major policy development and strategy initiatives focused on patient‐ and family‐centered care, primary health care re…
Knowledge integration in public health
There are tradeoffs in knowledge synthesis – for example, between comprehensiveness and timeliness, between generalisability and policy relevance. The tradeoffs are particularly challenging for public health. A growing international community is grappling with building more relevant and useful knowledge bases, to facilitate use of this knowledge in policy and practice. These questions guided a knowledge synthesis using a novel ‘rapid review’ meth…
Rethinking health systems strengthening
While reaching consensus on future plans to address current global health challenges is far from easy, there is broad agreement that reductionist approaches that suggest a limited set of targeted interventions to improve health around the world are inadequate. We argue that a comprehensive systems perspective should guide health practice, education, research and policy. We propose key 'systems thinking' tools and strategies that have the potentia…
Strengthening health systems through networks
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia, Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, InSource Research Group, Vancouver, BC, Canada and Centre…
The Complexity of Institutionalizing Evaluation as a Best Practice in North American Quitlines
Tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of mortality and morbidity in North America and Quitlines are one of the primary cessation resources available to assist tobacco users with quitting. Implementation of best practices is important to the success of quitlines, but unfortunately, it is a complex and elusive process often difficult to achieve. This study aims to better understand the implementation process by using qualitative…
Networks to Strengthen Health Systems for Chronic Disease Prevention
Interorganizational networks that harness the priorities, capacities, and skills of various agencies and individuals have emerged as useful approaches for strengthening preventive services in public health systems. We use examples from the Canadian Heart Health Initiative and Alberta’s Primary Care Networks to illustrate characteristics of networks, describe the limitations of existing frameworks for assessing the performance of prevention-orient…
Systems thinking for transformational change in health
Incremental approaches to introducing change in Canada’s health systems have not sufficiently improved the quality of services and outcomes. Further progress requires ‘large system transformation’, considered to be the systematic effort to generate coordinated change across organisations sharing a common vision and goal. This essay draws on ongoing dialogue relating to transformation, and examines transformative efforts in the Saskatchewan health…
Strengthening health systems in low-income countries by enhancing organizational capacities and improving institutions
BACKGROUND: This paper argues that the global health agenda tends to privilege short-term global interests at the expense of long-term capacity building within national and community health systems. The Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) movement needs to focus on developing the capacity of local organizations and the institutions that influence how such organizations interact with local and international stakeholders. DISCUSSION: While instituti…
Health Policy Implementation Science (13 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Engineering (9 works) · Nursing (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Public health (9 works) · Management science (8 works) · Public relations (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)