Why health-evidence.ca

The main feature of this web site is a free, searchable online registry of systematic reviews on the effectiveness of public health and health promotion interventions. The registry is one component of a comprehensive knowledge transfer and exchange site that will support users in accessing and interpreting research evidence. The strategy will also work toward connecting users across Canada (and internationally), who work in similar areas, or have similar interests.

The goals of the site are to:

short term

provide an easily-accessible source of published, reliable, up-to-date reviews evaluating the effectiveness of public health and health promotion interventions;
act as a communication tool to facilitate exchange among Canadian public health and health promotion decision makers and researchers;
build familiarity with the interpretation and integration of research evidence into the decision-making process;
provide decision makers with the tools to enhance their quality assessment skills;
customize the content received by decision makers to their specified areas of interest;
improve strategic networking and partnership building among researchers, decision makers, and practitioners, by providing a forum to connect online.

long term

become a well-established and well-maintained source of published and unpublished research evidence in public health and health promotion effectiveness;
host various online communities (Canadian and international in scope) to promote knowledge transfer and exchange and further collaboration;
evaluate ways to effectively provide information for public health and health promotion decision making in Canada;
act as a networking forum and platform for future public health and health promotion research as well as knowledge transfer and exchange.

Features of the registry and the supporting site:

by registering, users can tailor the information they receive on recently completed reviews to their particular areas of interest;
the registry is searchable by commonly-used public health and health promotion terms and categories; (e.g., focus of the intervention, intervention strategy, intervention location, and target population);
all reviews have been assessed for methodological quality by 2 independent reviewers, and that rating is included with each review. Users can then choose to sort search results by review quality (strong, moderate, or weak);
an online discussion group is in development for users to meet, ask and answer questions, and network (will be moderated to ensure appropriate content);
online tutorials and case studies being developed will encourage users to learn more about quality assessing research, interpreting research results and integrating research into decision making and practice;
built in feedback links provide users with the opportunity to give suggestions on site improvement.