Evidence Collection on Moderate and Severe Acute Malnutrition: a multi-organisation collaboration

Abstract

Background: Linked evidence collections on the Evidence Aid and Cochrane websites aim to increase the uptake of robust evidence in the humanitarian and disaster risk reduction sectors by providing a convenient overview of relevant synthesised evidence. Methods: Linked collections highlight the most relevant high quality synthesised evidence on a specific topic within the limits of an agreed scope. Identified resources were assessed on relevance and quality. All resources are made available through Evidence Aid with a link to the Cochrane collection. The multi-stakeholder collaboration ensures an inclusive process, crucial to safeguard the relevance, practical use, feasibility and quality of the collection. Together the collaborators formulated the topic and process for the collection. Results: 4646 articles were identified after the search strategy was agreed. The Evidence Aid Collection was published in March 2018; the linked Cochrane Collection is scheduled for publication in June 2018. Reflections: The limitations of the evidence are important to consider, and changes in research methodology in the future might result in changes to both the EA process and the impact that these collections can have. The role of the information specialist is also considered. Conclusion: Evidence Aid has demonstrated that providing evidence in an easily accessible way can help people to summarise and distil the appropriate robust evidence, making it available to a wider audience with the aim to inform activities in the field. It shows the benefits of a single portal of the evidence freely available to all.