4.1 Dissemination
4.1.1 Making the guidelines accessible
Guidelines should be presented in formats and styles suitable for their target audience. Where the target audience is varied—as with, for example, the breast cancer guidelines—the guidelines need to be presented in a range of formats and styles suitable for each segment of the target audience. The cost of guidelines should not present a barrier to access.
In their initial format, most guidelines will be large documents providing detailed recommendations on diagnosis, investigation or treatment (or all of these things) and providing evidence to support the recommendations.
Health professionals manage an array of conditions in a variety of circumstances, so consideration should be given to the development of documents and formats that are suitable for general practitioners, clinicians working in emergency departments, ambulance officers, public health officials, quality assurance managers, discharge planners, consumers and others.
4.1.2 Publishing the guidelines
Guidelines can be published as booklets, containing comprehensive information and available from a central authority, or in summary form, providing information about the main findings and recommendations and also available from a central authority.
Summaries of the guidelines can also be published in other ways:
• in professional journals;
• in professional associations’ newsletters and magazines;
• in trade publications and industry newspapers;
• in institutional newsletters, such as those of divisions of general practice, hospitals, consumer groups and area health services;
• in the popular media;
• as brochures—an example is the desk-top summary for General Practitioners on the management of early breast cancer;
• as posters;
• in summary form or as full guidelines published on the Internet and linked to websites appropriate for the target audience;
• as audio or video tapes; and
• on computer disks.