PEN Features
Practice-Based Evidence in Nutrition [PEN] is an innovative knowledge translation1 tool designed to put you on the leading edge of evidence-based practice in food and nutrition. PEN supports decision making for:
- clinicians through best practice point-of-care guidance to improve inpatient and outpatient health outcomes and reduce health care costs.
- public health/community practitioners through complete population health and lifecycle practice guidance based on best evidence.
- university educators as a teaching tool in critical appraisal and evidence-based decision making.
- food service administrators through up-to-date best evidence in issues such as food safety and nutrient analysis software.
- policy makers as an evidence-based reference to guide policy development.
- food manufacturers for a synthesis of latest research on consumers' understanding of food labels or health claims.
Key features of PEN that make it your first choice for practice guidance:
| PEN Practice Enhancement Tools | What This Tool Will Do For You |
|---|---|
| Powerful search capabilities | Helps you find what you are looking for quickly and easily using any of three methods: search by key words, narrow your search using the "Advanced Search" feature, or browse the Table of Contents. |
| Key Practice Points | Provides immediate access to succinct evidence-based guidance statements prepared by leading experts and practitioners addressing current dietetic practice questions. |
| Links to the cited references | Hyperlinks to PubMed abstracts and full articles when they are available |
| Evidence Summary | Provides an overview of the level of evidence supporting all key practice points in a Knowledge Pathway |
| Practice Guidance Summary | Provides a brief summary or overview of the Key Practice Points written as educational guidelines for the practitioner to use with clients / consumers |
| Health Professional Tools | Links you to the best in evidence-based practice guidance tools with just a click of your mouse. |
| Client Education Handouts | Enables you to download client and practitioner-tested tools designed according to the best evidence in adult education. PEN Client Handouts may be customized with your own logo and contact information. Resources may also be emailed from PEN directly to your client or colleague. |
| Searchable glossary | Provides instant definitions of terms through embedded links. For example, place your mouse over the term "hypertension" to see the definition for "hypertension." |
| Submit a practice question | Can't find an answer to your practice question? This feature enables you to contribute to PEN's practice question database to build future content for the service. |
| What's New? | Keeps you abreast of new content added to PEN since your last visit and what's on the horizon for new and enhanced Knowledge Pathway topics. |
| Full accessibility | Your unique user login and password gives you access from any internet terminal, at home, your office or on the road. |
| Manage your own profile | Lets you update your personal profile with changes to your contact information to ensure receipt of messaging from PEN. |
| Feedback survey | Enables you to share your needs in knowledge translation with the PEN Team so we can continue to improve this service. |
1Canadian Institutes of Health Research defines "knowledge translation" as the exchange, synthesis and ethically-sound application of knowledge - within a complex system of interactions among researchers and users - to accelerate the capture of the benefits of research for Canadians through improved health, more effective services and products, and a strengthened health care system. http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/26574.html#defining [cited 2008 15 Jul].