Best Practices
What is a Best Practice?
Best Practices are intended to maximize the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of reproductive health services for women and men worldwide. The IBP Initiative aims to promote the use of these existing Best Practices by helping diverse organizations in different regions to access, share, and build upon this knowledge.
The term Best Practice is widely used and there is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a Best Practice. In the context of the IBP Initiative, the term Best Practice spans the spectrum from Evidence-based Practices to Innovative Practices and Lessons Learned.
On the one end we find the "gold standard" of evidence-based Best Practices. Evaluation methods may include, for example diagnostic randomized controlled trials, qualitative research studies, and cohort studies, designed to find evidence from a range of scientific studies and to meticulously appraise and synthesize the evidence.
Along the spectrum that the IBP Initiative considers the realm of Best Practices, there are methods, tools and materials that have been demonstrated as effective, as well as innovative. They usually do not attempt to be universal in scope or application. They are generally approaches and practices that have not been evaluated as rigorously as the “gold standard” described above. Nevertheless, they still offer valuable insight into approaches that have been applied successfully in a given setting.
In short, when the term "Best Practice" is used, it refers to an array of evidence-based tools, materials and practices, including guidelines, norms, standards, experiences and skills, among others, that have proven their worth in the field of reproductive health.
Background
International organizations have become treasure houses of knowledge, know-how and Best Practices . The challenge is not only to generate this evidence, but also to find innovative ways of translating this knowledge into practice in resource-constrained settings.
The IBP Initiative is grounded in the principles of Knowledge Management . It encourages the transfer and exchange of knowledge to provide the building blocks for a systematic process that manages change from within the system.
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