Towards evidence-based, quality-controlled health promotion: the Dutch recognition system for health promotion interventions

Abstract

Registration or recognition systems for best-practice health promotion interventions may contribute to better quality assurance and control in health promotion practice. In the Netherlands, such a system has been developed and is being implemented aiming to provide policy makers and professionals with more information on the quality and effectiveness of available health promotion interventions and to promote use of good-practice and evidence-based interventions by health promotion organizations. The quality assessments are supervised by the Netherlands Organization for Public Health and the Environment and the Netherlands Youth Institute and conducted by two committees, one for interventions aimed at youth and one for adults. These committees consist of experts in the fields of research, policy and practice. Four levels of recognition are distinguished inspired by the UK Medical Research Council's evaluation framework for complex interventions to improve health: (i) theoretically sound, (ii) probable effectiveness, (iii) established effectiveness, and (iv) established cost effectiveness. Specific criteria have been set for each level of recognition, except for Level 4 which will be included from 2011. This point of view article describes and discusses the rationale, organization and criteria of this Dutch recognition system and the first experiences with the system.

Advocated but Sidelined: Health promotion for the elderly in the Netherlands

“…All HP, including those that are not funded by public sources and those that are not evidence-based should be registered in one database available on Loketgezondleven.nl [6]. Registration also means complying with certain criteria's such as a theoretical background, epidemiological and health relevance, implementation plan and evaluation (including effectiveness of HP towards health problems and cost-effectiveness) [2,6]. Each HP is assessed by a group of independent experts before is officially registered [6].…”

“…Registration also means complying with certain criteria's such as a theoretical background, epidemiological and health relevance, implementation plan and evaluation (including effectiveness of HP towards health problems and cost-effectiveness) [2,6]. Each HP is assessed by a group of independent experts before is officially registered [6]. The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) is another important stakeholder related to HP.…”

Europe needs a central, transparent, and evidence-based approval process for behavioural prevention interventions

“…There are some local experiences of public registries of evidence-based interventions in some areas of prevention [22][23][24]. However, at least two reasons suggest that these registries may not be enough to guide practice.…”

“…This is obviously a potential cause of uncertainty for decision-makers and implementers. Table 1 compares the criteria for intervention classification adopted by seven registries considered by Gandhi et al [22], to which we added two European resources, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Abuse (EMCDDA) 's Best Practice Portal and the Dutch Recognition System [23,24]. Although evidence of efficacy and quality of evaluation are considered by all registries, aspects such as quality of programme contents, programme implementation methods, and programme replicability are considered only in four out of nine registries.…”

Development of a culturally tailored Internet intervention promoting hepatitis B screening in the Turkish community in the Netherlands

“…It is recommended that reports of studies should include a detailed description of the intervention to enable replication, evidence synthesis and wider implementation. In addition, an accreditation and certification system for health promotion interventions was developed in the Netherlands, aiming to assist professionals and policy-makers in selecting evidence-based health promotion programmes (Brug et al, 2010). The procedure describes four levels, cost-effectiveness being the ultimate goal, but theoretical soundness being the critical first step.…”