Project History

How this site got started

This site began as a research project intended to promote the use of research in practice by creating a registry of published systematic reviews on the effectiveness of public health interventions. Through her PhD work, Dr. Maureen Dobbins (the principal investigator) explored the perceptions of Canadian public health decision makers regarding the best way to disseminate the findings of systematic reviews to decision makers across Canada. She determined that those working in a managerial capacity around program and policy decision making would be most likely to use the results of systematic reviews.

This earlier work led to a 2001 study (pdf download) funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which explored Canadian decision makers' needs and preferences for receiving research evidence around public health and health promotion interventions. Findings from the 2001 study resulted in the development of www.health-evidence.ca and led to the funding of a subsequent knowledge transfer and exchange study funded by CIHR known as Evaluating the Evidence on Knowledge Brokers (pdf download).

This randomized controlled trial (RCT), which ran from October 2003 to 2007, evaluated three knowledge transfer and exchange interventions for promoting evidence-based decision making in Canadian public health units and health regions (PPT presentation), in the field of physical activity and healthy body weight promotion among children. Use of a knowledge broker (an individual acting as a middleman between the producers and users of research) was one of the evaluated interventions, along with health-evidence.ca and tailored messages. The intervention phase of this study was conducted January – December of 2005, during which time the tailored messages were disseminated and the broker assisted those health regions/units randomized to the knowledge broker group in interpreting and incorporating relevant research evidence into their local program planning decision making. At this point, the intervention and post-intervention data collection are complete (1-pg summary pdf download); the one-year post intervention data is being analyzed. Qualitative interviews have been held with participants in the trial to learn more about their experiences as part of each of the three intervention groups and that data is also being analyzed to assist in explaining survey results.