Development of information regarding susceptibility to heat illness using the cooperative extension agency model in Kentucky.

CONTEXT: Dissemination of information regarding the latest research findings in rehabilitative health care is often limited to professional journals.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the paper is to describe opportunities to better distribute scientific information to wider swaths than normally contained within a readership of a journal, to describe a process to deliver important information via the Cooperative Extension Service, and provide an example of such an informational brochure.

DESIGN

An interdisciplinary approach was developed to provide access to a larger cohort of individuals the latest research findings regarding heat and hydration.

DATA EXTRACTION: CINAHL, Medline, and Sport Discus were reviewed from 1966 to 2006 using the terms Heat, Hydration, Rhabdomyolysis, Rehabilitation, Heat Exhaustion, Heat Stroke, and Dehydration.

DATA SYNTHESIS: We found substantial information describing recommendations for preventing, recognizing, and treating illness due to variance in heat and hydration. The information was succinctly summarized, converted to a 7th grade reading level, and shared with a larger audience via a unique model available through Cooperative Extension Agencies.

CONCLUSION

Providing scientific information via a Cooperative Extension Model enables sharing of information from experts to communities. This methodology increases the distribution of the latest scientific knowledge to broader audiences.