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What is a best practice? |
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What is a best practice?
There is no universally accepted definition of a "best practice." However, as the definitions below indicate, a "best practice" is a practice that upon rigorous evaluation, demonstrates success, has had an impact, and can be replicated.
- United Nations Population Fund: The UNFPA Glossary of Monitoring and Evaluation Terms defines best practices as planning or operational practices that have proven successful in particular circumstances and which are "used to demonstrate what works and what does not and to accumulate and apply knowledge about how and why they work in different situations and contexts" [See Glossary of Monitoring and Evaluation Terms].
- UNESCO: UNESCO describes best practices as having four common characteristics: they are innovative; they make a difference; they have a sustainable effect; and they have the potential to be replicated and to serve as a model for generating initiatives elsewhere [See Successful Projects Related to Poverty and Social Exclusion].
- Advance Africa: Advance Africa, which was funded by USAID to collect and share best practices, states: "A best practice is a specific action or set of actions exhibiting quantitative and qualitative evidence of success together with the ability to be replicated and the potential to be adapted and transferred. Best practices represent the "Gold Standard" of activities and tools that can be implemented to support program objectives." [See Best Practices Compendium].
What are lessons learned? Good practices? Promising practices?
The terms "lessons learned", "good practices", and "promising practices" are all terms used to describe useful practices. These terms are often used to indicate practices or approaches that have not been evaluated as rigorously as "best practices", but that still offer ideas about what works best in a given situation. They can also be examples of how not to do something. "Lessons learned" are often "lessons from" a specific program or project and are not trying to be universal in scope or application. The terms "best practice" and "lessons learned" are often used interchangeably.
- UN Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality: The UN Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality, in developing its collection of practices on gender, chose to define "good practices" rather than "best practices". A good practice is one that meets at least two of the following criteria: leads to an actual change, has an impact on the policy environment, demonstrates an innovative or replicable approach, or demonstrates sustainability. [See United Nations Resources on Gender: Guidelines and Criteria for Good Practices]
- Advance Africa: Advance Africa differentiated a promising practice from a best practice in this way: "A promising practice is a specific action or set of actions exhibiting inconclusive evidence of success or evidence of partial success. It may or may not be possible to replicate a promising practice in more than one setting." [See Best Practices Compendium].
What is evidence-based medicine?
While "best practice" is the term used to describe a program or project whose success is based on evidence, the term "evidence-based medicine" applies to clinical care. "Evidence-based medicine" describes the process of basing clinical decisions on the latest science-based research in the field.
- CancerWeb Online Medical Dictionary: CancerWeb Online Medical Dictionary defines evidence-based medicine as a process of systematically finding, appraising, and using contemporaneous research findings as the basis for clinical decisions. Evidence-based medicine asks questions, finds and appraises the relevant data, and harnesses that information for everyday clinical practice. [See Online Medical Dictionary]. Evidence-based medicine follows four steps: formulate an answerable question that reflects a decision-point in clinical care; search for relevant clinical articles; evaluate or critically appraise the evidence for its validity and relevance; develop clinical practices supported by the weight of the evidence.
- The McMaster University Evidence-based Medicine Working Group: This Evidence-based Working Group defines evidence-based medicine as, "The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients." 1
Updated: 2007/4/30
References:
1. Sacket DL, Rosenberg WMC, Gray JAM, Haynes RB, Richardson WS. Evidence-based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ 1996; 312:71-72.
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