December 14, 2011

The next generation of Health Systems Evidence – the world’s most comprehensive, free access point for high-quality evidence on health systems – has been launched by the McMaster Health Forum.  

Health Systems Evidence is a valuable resource for policymakers, stakeholders and researchers seeking to address today’s most pressing health challenges. It provides answers on questions about how to strengthen or reform health systems, or how to get cost-effective programs, services and drugs to those who need them.

The redeveloped website offers numerous enhancements, including new open search and advanced search functionalities, and is available in seven languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Health Systems Evidence, a continuously updated repository of syntheses of research evidence about health system governance, financial and delivery arrangements, has expanded dramatically since its launch less than two years ago. It also includes syntheses of research about implementation strategies that can support change in health systems, and is now adding economic evaluations in these same domains, descriptions of health system reforms, and descriptions of health systems.

The database currently contains nearly 2,000 records that are coded with additional details such as the quality of the synthesis, how recently the search for the studies was conducted, and the countries in which the studies included in the synthesis were conducted. Key findings of the documents are available through links to user-friendly summaries written by any of nine groups in the world.

Other enhancements added with the relaunch of Health Systems Evidence include a comprehensive synonyms dictionary that cuts through the different jargon in use within and across countries, a filter that allows users to identify evidence that targets low- and middle-income countries, and a customizable evidence service that will provide monthly email alerts identifying new documents available in the database specific to someone’s individual interests.

A video tutorial on how to make the best use of the site is provided, which will assist users to rapidly identify the best available research on a particular health system topic.

Health Systems Evidence is supported by a collaboration with the Program in Policy Decision-making at McMaster University, Cochrane Canada and its Policy Liaison Office, the Health Information Research Unit’s McMaster PLUS and McMaster Search Filters, and Rx for Change.

Translations of the site into the six languages other than English is supported by World Health Organization (WHO) regional offices for the Americas (Pan American Health Organization), Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, the American University of Beirut and the Evidence-Based Medicine Centre at Lanzhou University in China.

McMaster Forum is also available in other languages:

• Arabic: http://www.mcmasterhealthforum.org/healthsystemsevidence-ar
• Chinese: http://www.mcmasterhealthforum.org/healthsystemsevidence-zh
• Français: http://www.mcmasterhealthforum.org/healthsystemsevidence-fr
• Português: http://www.mcmasterhealthforum.org/healthsystemsevidence-pt
• Russian: http://www.mcmasterhealthforum.org/healthsystemsevidence-ru