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- Home
- Repositories
  - The Registry of Methods and Tools for Evidence-Informed Decision Making
  - Methods and Tools for Organizational Change
  - Health Evidence™
  - Repository of Public Health Evidence Syntheses
- Training
  - Videos
  - Evidence-Informed Decision-Making Competence Measure
  - Learning Needs Assessment for Evidence-Informed Decision Making
  - Online Learning Modules
  - University-Certified Learning Module Program
  - Webinars
  - Workshops
  - Knowledge Broker Mentoring Program
    
    KB Mentoring Impact
  - Knowledge Broker Virtual Office Hours
- Tools
  - Evidence-Informed Decision Making in Public Health
  - 6S Search Pyramid
  - Anatomy of a Systematic Review
  - Rapid Review Guidebook
  - EvSyS: The Evidence Synthesis Selection Tool for Decision Makers
  - Algorithm for Classifying the Study Design of Primary Studies
  - Quality Assessment of Community Evidence (QACE) Tools
  - Resource Planning and Assessment (RPA) Tool
  - Assessing Applicability and Transferability of Evidence Tool (A&T Tool)
  - Core Competency Tool
  - Mental Health Resources for Healthcare Workers
- Rapid Evidence Service
- Impact
  - Evidence-Informed Decision Making Casebook
  - Impact of the Knowledge Broker Mentoring Program
  - Why It Matters
  - NCCMT Publications
  - User Stories
  - Outreach
  - KT Student Awards
- About Us
  - About the NCCMT
  - Our Funder
  - Our Host Institution
  - The National Collaborating Centres
  - Team Members
  - Advisory Group Members
  - Students
  - COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision-making (COVID-END)
  - Contact Us

A Framework for Public Health Action: The Health Impact Pyramid

Frieden T. R. (2010). A framework for public health action: The health impact pyramid. American Journal of Public Health, 100(4), 590–595. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.185652

Example available

Journal article

Description

This framework is designed to guide public health action. It consists of a pyramid with five levels of intervention to prevent negative health outcomes and promote positive health outcomes. The levels are organized by individual effort; greater effort is required at the top of the pyramid, with decreasing intensity as users moves down the pyramid. Interventions at the top (individual behaviour change) are less effective for population health, but are most readily available. The health impact pyramid suggests that addressing the base of the pyramid (socioeconomic factors) has the greatest potential to improve population health.

Steps for Using Method/Tool

The framework guides users through the five levels of the pyramid from top to bottom:

Counselling and education
Clinical interventions
Long-lasting protective interventions
Changing the context to make individuals’ default decisions healthy
Socioeconomic factors

These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context. For more information on individual methods and tools included in the review, please consult the authors/developers of the original resources.

We have provided the resources and links as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by McMaster University of any of the products, services or opinions of the external organizations, nor have the external organizations endorsed their resources and links as provided by McMaster University. McMaster University bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external sites.