Tailored messaging and health-evidence.ca: Delivering public health to decision makers

We conducted a CIHR-funded randomized controlled trial (2004-2007; MOP-64201; ISRCTN35240937) to evaluate the impact of three knowledge translation strategies on the incorporation of research evidence into public health policy and program decision making. The strategies included: 1) access to www.health-evidence.ca; 2) tailored messages and access to www.health-evidence.ca; and 3) knowledge broker consultation, tailored messages, and access to www.health-evidence.ca. A secondary objective was to evaluate the actual use of and perceived usefulness of www.health-evidence.ca, an integral component of each of the three strategies. www.health-evidence.ca is an online registry of literature reviews evaluating the effectiveness of public health, health promotion and population health interventions. As of October 2011, the registry had 2,338 quality-rated reviews published since 1995. www.health-evidence.ca has been operating since 2005 and sees 45,000 visitors each year, the majority of which are public health decision makers representing all of Canada's provinces and territories. Our study results showed that tailored, targeted messages, based on systematic reviews in the www.health-evidence.ca registry were an effective strategy for facilitating evidence-informed decision making. Through this proposal, we are seeking funding to build upon our previous findings and to: 1) ensure the www.health-evidence.ca registry remains current, relevant and useful to users, and 2) extend tailored messaging for priority issues to public health decision makers in Canada and internationally. Funding will support: maintaining the registry and keeping the content current; developing and distributing tailored messages regarding evidence for priority issues; providing webinars and online moderated discussion groups to further support the translation of research evidence into practice; and evaluation of the KT activities on decision makers' intention and actual use of the evidence.