Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

WWW.health-evidence.ca : An innovative service to promote

evidence-based public health decision making Maureen Dobbins, RN, PhD

Kara DeCorby, MSc

Donna Ciliska, RN, PhD

Shawna Mercer, PhD

Roy Cameron, R, PhD

Lawrence W. Green, PhD

Helen Thomas, MSc

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Setting the Scene

What

How

Why

When

Who

Where

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

WHAT - health-evidence.ca

• online registry

• reviews evaluating interventions

• quality-assessed

• searchable by commonly-used public health terms

• two page summaries

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

HOW - Search Strategy

• electronic search of 6 online databases:

• handsearching of 20 journals

• reference list of all relevant reviews

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

HOW - Building the Registry

• relevance testing

• keywording

• quality assessment

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

WHY – Value Added

• difficulty identifying public health/health promotion literature in large medical databases

• lack of time to assess quality of literature

• practical application not always apparent

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

WHY - Functions of Site

• compilation of reviews with quality ratings

• User-friendly search capability

• summaries of results and implications for practice

• links to full-text reviews wherever possible

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

WHEN - Launch of Site

• March 10, 2005

• Over 2,000 hits in first week

• Over 22,000 hits to date

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

WHO - Site Stats

• > 1300 registered users as of Sept 2005

• ~ 80% of users are Canadian, with most of the remaining 20% Americans, followed by Australia and UK

• all provinces and territories

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Topic areas covered addiction/drug use

adolescent health

adult health

child health

chronic diseases

communicable disease & infection

community health

dental health

elderly health

environmental health

food safety & inspection

infant health

injury prevention & safety

mental health

nutrition

parenting/infants & children

physical activity

pregnancy

sex education

stds

women's health

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Popular topics

• obesity prevention

• healthy eating

• physical activity

• day care

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Comments

“Everything is AOK as far as logging in.  Great site.  I look forward in future to utilizing what appears to be a potent health policy decision-making tool.  With the increasing complexity of health related issues, you can't have too many such resources to draw on.”

-Policy Analyst

“there seems to be something for everyone - I liked that it provides a quality rating for the research - this is something I struggle with -  and it holds only what is relevant for us in public health.   I will use it as a solid reference point for our programming.”

-Public Health Manager

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

WHERE - Work in progress

• Health-evidence.ca is evolving - plans are underway to meet users’ needs through

– moderated discussion groups

– tutorials

– online courses

– expert panels

– live chats with colleagues and experts

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006

Comments?

• The registry is one component of a comprehensive KT strategy to support users in

– accessing and interpreting research evidence

– connecting with colleagues and experts across Canada (and internationally)

view the site at

www.health-evidence.ca and share your comments/questions

Manitoba Centre for Health PolicyJanuary 31, 2006