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Information needs of public health practitioners: a review of the literature
Author(s) -
Ford Jennifer,
Korjonen Helena
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
health information and libraries journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1471-1842
pISSN - 1471-1834
DOI - 10.1111/hir.12001
Subject(s) - public health , public health informatics , information needs , health informatics , health information , informatics , population , information system , medline , systematic review , knowledge management , public relations , medicine , data science , computer science , environmental health , health care , health policy , hrhis , library science , nursing , political science , law
Objective To review published literature covering the information needs of public health practitioners and papers highlighting gaps and potential solutions in order to summarise what is already known about this population and models tested to support them. Methods The search strategy included bibliographic databases LISTA , LISA , P ub M ed and W eb of K nowledge. The results of this literature review were used to create two tables displaying published literature. Findings The literature highlighted that some research has taken place into different public health subgroups with consistent findings. Gaps in information provision have also been identified by looking at the information services provided. Conclusion There is a need for further research into information needs in subgroups of public health practitioners as this group is diverse, has different needs and needs varying information. Models of informatics that can support public health must be developed and published so that the public health information community can share experiences and solutions and begin to build an evidence‐base to produce superior information systems for the goal of a healthier society.