Background: Public health professionals are expected to consider the best available research evidence when making practice decisions. However, they encounter challenges such as time constraints, limited resources and skills to find, appraise, interpret and apply evidence.
Objectives: To evaluate the usage and change in learning outcomes associated with use of online learning resources for evidence-informed decision making (EIDM).
Methods: The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools worked with Web developers and online learning specialists to create the Learning Centre. As a management system, the Learning Centre offers multiple online learning resources for which the content, practical examples and assessments have been developed in collaboration with public health professionals. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation data are continuously collected before and after use of the online learning resources.
Results: Evaluation data from June 2012, when the Learning Centre was launched, to May and September 2015, will be presented. As of March 2015, the resources in the Learning Centre have been used by more than 3000 public health professionals. Quantitative data demonstrate significant increases in knowledge and self-efficacy for EIDM following use of the resources. Quantitative and qualitative data indicate learners are satisfied with the online format of the Learning Centre; users return to the resources multiple times, suggesting they value the resources as references to support EIDM capacity.
Conclusions: Evaluation of this project validates that the online learning resources offered by the National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools are innovative, accessible and effective in supporting EIDM capacity development among public health professionals.