It takes a village: The power of people to adapt knowledge
Author: Nicky Benn
Director Development & External Relations at the Cochrane Collaboration
Evidence can often feel like it’s only shared within scientific communities. Knowledge from scientific research is communicated by those ‘in the know’ at conferences, and through published papers. But we know that when it comes to putting evidence into practice, this isn’t effective.
The people who can act on evidence – policy makers, health and care professionals, those working in public health – don’t have the time or the specialist skills to understand scientific jargon or delve into methodologies. And if you’re a member of the public looking for reliable information to help a friend or a family member, the barriers are even higher.
We need to make scientific findings relevant and accessible to people who might use them. At Cochrane, we have published over 9,000 systematic reviews. Many contain insights which could help inform best practice, shape policy or influence decision-making. But the question is, how do we ensure that we are sharing this knowledge collaboratively?
Starting with lived experience
We believe that involving patients and the public in research is vital to producing evidence that is relevant, accessible, useful and impactful to people making informed health choices. We have been involving patients and the public in our work for over 30 years.
Cochrane has a growing Patient and Public Network of over 2,500 people in more than 100 countries. Our Patient and Public Network plays a vital role in strengthening how we involve patients and the public across Cochrane. For example, our involvement framework, shaping both current and future practice, is led by the Patient and Public Network Executive. The Network is actively involved in patient and public peer review and has previously contributed to developing guidance on How to Read a Cochrane Review, updating our flagship resource Evidence Essentials, and providing feedback on our new website to make evidence more accessible for people making health decisions. None of this would be possible without the unique perspective of lived experience.
Making evidence multilingual
In addition to our Patient and Public Network, we also have a network of volunteer translators. Only 6% of people in the world speak English as a first language and 75% of the world’s population don’t speak English at all. Many people do not have access to high quality health information because it is not readily available in a language they understand.
Our volunteers donate their time to translate the plain language summaries of Cochrane reviews and also information on the Cochrane website. As of January 2025, we have published over 54,000 translations of Cochrane plain language summaries across 20 different languages.
This group of volunteers takes the evidence into their own context. While we make use of modern translation technologies such as machine translation and AI, we believe it is essential to keep the human element in the loop. This is particularly important because Cochrane content is so highly specialized. Moreover, by involving humans we ensure our translations are of high quality, consistent, and culturally appropriate.
We believe this work is valuable, particularly in areas of the world where health information is scarcer. For example, we believe this is why our content in Farsi is popular; it gets tens of thousands of views each month on our website. This work would not be possible without the support of our translator community.
Sharing knowledge widely
In addition to embedding different perspectives and translating findings, we make other efforts to meet people where they already are. We know that lots of people aren’t regularly checking the Cochrane Library for new review findings, so we try to put new findings in places they will be looking. This includes using social media and sharing noteworthy reviews with media outlets.
For example, in August this year we published a review on ketamine and other NMDA receptor antagonists for chronic pain and distributed a press release. The review achieved international coverage (over 40 articles across 7 regions) in news, science and specialist outlets. Headlines consistently reflected the key message; no clear evidence supports ketamine for chronic pain.
Our dissemination work, which is often a collaborative effort between authors, Cochrane Groups and our communications team, helps present important findings from Cochrane reviews clearly to relevant audiences.
The value of collaboration
In conclusion, evidence needs to be put in context, and at Cochrane we can only do that with the help of a huge variety of individuals. Our translators, Patient and Public Network and Cochrane authors all help us to get Cochrane evidence out into the real world in a way that is meaningful to people.
However, there is always more to do, and the world is constantly changing. For example, we are having conversations about artificial intelligence and the impact this could have on the evidence itself and how we communicate it. We are also working on understanding and adapting our evidence to different contexts. This is helped by our network of Geographic Groups, who have an understanding of what works in their own areas.
We firmly believe that knowledge is shared most effectively when we bring evidence together with people’s values and experiences. The role of collaboration in this process is vital. We all have a unique perspective. Bringing different people together, involving those who know their context best, and meeting people where they are; these can all strengthen what we’re saying and how we share it. It takes a village.
References
Ferraro MC, Cashin AG, Visser EJ, Abdel Shaheed C, Wewege MA, Wand BM, et al. Ketamine and other NMDA receptor antagonists for chronic pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2025;(8):CD015373.
Cochrane. Ketamine use in chronic pain unsupported by evidence [internet]. Cochrane; 2025 [cited 2025 Sep 29]. Available from: https://www.cochrane.org/about-us/news/ketamine-use-chronic-pain-unsupported-evidence
Cochrane. How is Cochrane advancing responsible AI for evidence synthesis? [Internet]. London: Cochrane; 2025 [cited 2025 Sep 29]. Available from: https://www.cochrane.org/about-us/news/how-cochrane-advancing-responsible-ai-evidence-synthesis
To link to this article - DOI: https://doi.org/10.70253/LCJX7813
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this World EBHC Day Blog, as well as any errors or omissions, are the sole responsibility of the author and do not represent the views of the World EBHC Day Steering Committee, Official Partners or Sponsors; nor does it imply endorsement by the aforementioned parties.
