About This Page
The public health resources found in this version of the pre-appraised pyramid of evidence, or the 6S Pyramid contain evidence that will help you answer public health foreground questions [queries that bring together multiple concepts related to a specific situation or research topic].
The 6S pyramid is arranged in a hierarchy, with the different levels outlined and colour-coded.
Use the concepts identified in your PICO or PS Question (found in the Forming Questions tab) to come up with appropriate search terms, remembering:
- A piece of evidence's ability to guide a decision increases as you move up the pyramid.
- Topics become more specific as you move down the pyramid.
More Tips
- Watch HSL's Database Fundamentals Tutorial to learn the basics of effective and efficient searching.
- Visit the Background Information tab for answers to more general questions (e.g. Terminology, Drug Information, etc.)
- Visit the About EBP tab for a more detailed description of the concepts underlying Evidence-Based Practice
- Visit the Resources for Evidence-Based Practice Guide for a complete list of Health Sciences Library resources that are relevant to the 6S pyramid.
Learn More...
Before you can use the evidence...
Critical Appraisal
After finding the evidence, it must be critically appraised. Here are some resources for critically appraising your evidence:
Evidence-Informed Public Health
“The process of finding, appraising, distilling and disseminating the best available evidence, whether from research or actual practice, and using that evidence to inform and improve public health policy and practice.”1
The resources listed on this page are just one piece of Evidence-Informed Public Health. Other types of evidence include
grey literature, data, statistics, word of mouth and personal experience.
1. Source: Ciliska D, Chociolko C, Shum M; National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools; National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health. Evidence-informed decision-making in environmental health. Vancouver, BC: National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health; 2010.
Summaries
Summaries are regularly updated clinical guidelines or textbooks that integrate evidence-based information about specific clinical problems.
- Canadian Best Practices Portal. Public Health Agency of CanadaThis portal provides a consolidated one-stop shop for busy health professionals and public health decision-makers.
- NICE Clinical GuidelinesNational Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence, UK
Synopses of Syntheses
Synopses of syntheses, summarize the information found in systematic reviews. By drawing conclusions from evidence at lower levels of the pyramid, these synopses often provide sufficient information to support decision-making.
- Health EvidenceAccess approximately 4000 quality-rated systematic reviews evaluating the effectiveness of public health interventions. Compilations of published literature into public health relevant reviews.
Syntheses
Commonly referred to as a systematic review, a synthesis is a comprehensive summary of all the evidence surrounding a specific research question.
- Cochrane Library This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1999-
The Library includes evidence from Cochrane and other systematic reviews, methodology reviews, clinical trials, and more with a focus on evidence-based health care..
Synopses of Single Studies
Synopses of single studies summarize evidence from high-quality studies. The following evidence-based abstract journals are the best place to find this type of information:
- Public Health +Public Health + is a source of studies and reviews related to a particular focused question
Single Studies
Studies represent unique research conducted to answer specific clincial questions.
- MEDLINE This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1946-
A comprehensive source of life sciences and biomedical bibliographic information. A free version of MEDLINE is offered through PUBMED. - CINAHL This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1981- Present
Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature. Professional literature of nursing, allied health, biomedicine, and healthcare. - Embase This link opens in a new windowCoverage:1974-
Biomedical database with coverage that encompasses more European and International content than Medline. - Web of Science This link opens in a new windowThe Web of Science core collection consists of five separate multidisciplinary citation indexes that can be searched independently or in combination.
Meta Searches
Meta-Searches search for evidence across multiple resources. These tools return information from all levels of the pyramid:
- Trip This link opens in a new windowA metasearch engine for evidence-based medicine. Includes guidelines.
- Accessss This link opens in a new windowAccessss (formerly MacPLUS) Federated Search is designed to find the best evidence-based answer to your clinical questions by simultaneously searching the leading evidence-driven medical publications and high quality clinical literature.
