Table 5 Suggested formats for KT strategies to meet the needs of older adults seeking health information

Educational outreach and materials

• Have handouts, poster boards, service demonstrations and sign-ups, or presentations on various relevant health topics at social gathering places such as Bingo halls, churches, community recreation centres, malls, crosswalks, coffee shops

• Engage trusted sources (primary care office, Ministry of Health) to provide push notifications to patients regarding healthy aging, common health conditions, the Portal as an example of a trusted source and how to recognize one

• Create a shortlist of consumer publications (e.g., magazines, newspapers, community papers, health columns) where adapted versions of Portal-style evidence syntheses could be presented

• Send query letters to publishers to explore possibility of publishing Portal-style evidence syntheses as consumer health content

• Convert evidence summaries to different formats such as booklets, fact sheets, flyers, newspaper

Media campaign

• Targeted ads and information for older adults (geographically or through their affiliation with health condition-based groups on social media platforms)

• Increased social media-based awareness and outreach

• Navigation to the Portal or other ICT Facebook page should be found in several ways (and should not require searching by the full website name on Facebook or though Google)

• Advertisements on billboards or city bus screens

• Links to other trusted information sources on the ICT

• Work with hosts of other reputable health websites visited or consulted by target users (e.g., Health Canada, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Mayo Clinic) to post cross-endorsements of each other’s content

Champions/opinion leaders

• Engage community and health organizations in increasing knowledge or awareness among the public (e.g., at a religious centre, senior centre, community centre, or via a community organization such as the Canadian Association for Retired Persons)