Rules for tools: Knowledge translation tools in health care: a case of consilience

The amount of knowledge in the healthcare sector is increasing daily. If a healthcare professional wants to keep up with knowledge in order to be able to provide care according to the latest science and practice, he or she should be reading a few hours a day. There is an information overload in healthcare. To help the healthcare professional (and patient), tools (instruments) are developed that assess, interpret and summarise the knowledge and support the healthcare professional (and patient) in working according to the latest information and in deciding (together) about the treatment and/or care. Examples of tools are: clinical guidelines, decision aids, patient information, care pathways and protocols. The types of tools available in the Netherlands and how they are defined have been researched. In an international context, experts have identified which purpose the tools (specifically aimed at patients) serve, which elements they should contain, and which knowledge sources the tools use. Finally, on the basis of the guideline ‘Palliatieve zorg voor kinderen’ ['Palliative care for children'], it was examined whether tools intended for different purposes can be combined