Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 May 12:14:443.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-443.

How can knowledge exchange portals assist in knowledge management for evidence-informed decision making in public health?

Emma Quinn  1 , Carmen Huckel-Schneider, Danielle Campbell, Holly Seale, Andrew J Milat
Affiliations
Review

How can knowledge exchange portals assist in knowledge management for evidence-informed decision making in public health?

Emma Quinn et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Knowledge exchange portals are emerging as web tools that can help facilitate knowledge management in public health. We conducted a review to better understand the nature of these portals and their contribution to knowledge management in public health, with the aim of informing future development of portals in this field.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted of the peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify articles that described the design, development or evaluation of Knowledge Exchange Portals KEPs in the public health field. The content of the articles was analysed, interpreted and synthesised in light of the objectives of the review.

Results: The systematic search yielded 2223 articles, of which fifteen were deemed eligible for review, including eight case studies, six evaluation studies and one commentary article. Knowledge exchange portals mainly included design features to support knowledge access and creation, but formative evaluation studies examining user needs suggested collaborative features supporting knowledge exchange would also be useful. Overall web usage statistics revealed increasing use of some of these portals over time; however difficulties remain in retaining users. There is some evidence to suggest that the use of a knowledge exchange portal in combination with tailored and targeted messaging can increase the use of evidence in policy and program decision making at the organisational level.

Conclusions: Knowledge exchange portals can be a platform for providing integrated access to relevant content and resources in one location, for sharing and distributing information and for bringing people together for knowledge exchange. However more performance evaluation studies are needed to determine how they can best support evidence-informed decision making in public health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of search strategy results for literature review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Campbell DM, Redman S, Jorm L, Cooke M, Zwi AB, Rychetnik L. Increasing the use of evidence in health policy: practice and views of policy makers and researchers. Aust N Z Health Policy. 2009;6(21):1–11. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kreuter MW, Wray RJ. Tailored and targeted health communication: strategies for enhancing information relevance. Am J Health Behav. 2003;27(Suppl 3):S227–S232. - PubMed
    1. Crosswaite C, Curtice L. Disseminating research results - the challenge of bridging the gap between health research and health action. Health Pomot Int. 1994;9(4):289–296. doi: 10.1093/heapro/9.4.289. - DOI
    1. Alavi M, Lediner D. Review: knowledge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues. MIS Q. 2001;25(1):107–136. doi: 10.2307/3250961. - DOI
    1. Brownson RC, Fielding J, Maylahn C. Evidence based public health: a fundamental concept for public health practice. Annu Rev Public Health. 2009;30:175–201. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.031308.100134. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources