Cochrane Evidence, formerly known as Cochrane summaries, is a popular place to begin looking for health care information written in plain language. The link can be found on the Cochrane homepage www.cochrane.org  under the “Our Evidence” tab. This will take you directly to the most popular Cochrane Evidence plain language summaries. 

From here, link to the “See full list of our evidence” to browse or search for specific topics by word, phrase or by health topics listed in the left sidebar. To search, enter a search word, or a “treatment for condition” phrase such as “vitamin C for preventing colds” or “compression stockings to prevent blood clots” or “compression stockings for air travel” into the search box. A list of applicable Cochrane Evidence in plain language will be provided. A unique feature of these summaries is the underlined words or phrases which clarify terms for the reader. When the cursor is placed on the underlined word or phrase, an explanation or definition will become visible, such as adverse effects meaning “harmful or abnormal results”. 

The Cochrane Evidence summary contains information on when the review was published, the authors’ conclusions, a list of other related reviews that might be of interest, a link to the review abstract in the Cochrane Library, and a link to the corresponding podcast if available. There are also options to share this information on social media, save a PDF format, print it or use the citation.