PEN Terminology and Features

Terms

Knowledge Pathway: Designed in a question and answer format, the Knowledge Pathway represents a collection of Practice Questions, evidence-based answers, references, Practice Guidance Toolkits, Summaries of Recommendations and Evidence, Backgrounds, Tools and Resources, and other related materials on a particular topic.
Practice Category: Knowledge Pathways are organized into four practice categories: Population Heath/Lifecycle, Health Condition/Disease, Food Nutrients, Professional Practice.
Practice Question: Generally formulated using the PICO approach (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome), Practice Questions reflect the everyday practice situations faced by dietitians.
Practice Question Subcategories: To filter and find a relevant question, practice questions are organized by subcategories: Assessment, Diagnosis, Intervention, Monitoring, Evaluation (ADIME) and Other. Links are also provided to related Practice Questions from other Knowledge Pathways.
Key Practice Point: Based on a synthesis of the most valid, important and applicable evidence, the Key Practice Points provide a succinct evidence-based recommendation or “answer” to a dietetics practice question. Key Practice Points include three subcategories: Recommendations, Evidence Summary and Remarks. Supporting information is provided in Evidence (Statements), Comments/ Rationale and References.
Recommendations: Recommendations are clear, concise and actionable advice on whether to implement an intervention and, if relevant, under what conditions and how. For GRADE questions only, recommendations include: the strength of the recommendation, i.e. “Strong” or “Conditional” and the overall quality of evidence and its corresponding symbol, i.e. “Very Low” ⊕⊝⊝⊝, “Low” ⊕⊕⊝⊝, “Moderate” ⊕⊕⊕⊝, “High” ⊕⊕⊕⊕.
Evidence Summary: A succinct summary and critical appraisal of each article used to answer the practice question. Evidence summaries are graded (A, B, C or D) based on the strength of the evidence used to support them. Supporting research and/or evidence is provided in the Evidence Statements.
Remarks: Remarks describe the justification for the recommendation and present information that would be most useful and relevant to consider in discussion with a client, including author defined terms and additional PEN content.
Evidence: A summary of the critically appraised evidence for each referenced article including type of study, the population studied, number of subjects, methods used, main findings and study limitations.
Comments: Includes relevant information to support the Key Practice Point that does not belong in the evidence statements (e.g., food sources of a vitamin, comment on length of trial, social context) that is useful for the acceptability, applicability, and feasibility in the practice context.
Rationale: Allows an explanation of the proposed or known mechanisms of action, reasoning behind the research hypotheses and explanation for theories for the course of action or change.
References: References are hyperlinked to PubMed abstracts, if applicable, or to full articles or practice guidelines, if the PubMed link is not available.

Practice-Based Evidence in Nutrition® [PEN] is an innovative knowledge translation tool designed to put you on the leading edge of evidence-based practice in food and nutrition. PEN supports decision-making for:

clinicians through best practice point-of-care guidance to improve inpatient and outpatient health outcomes and reduce health care costs
public health/community practitioners through complete population health and lifecycle practice guidance based on best evidence
university educators as a teaching tool in critical appraisal and evidence-based decision making
food service administrators through up-to-date best evidence in issues such as food safety and nutrient analysis software
policy-makers as an evidence-based reference to guide policy development
food manufacturers for a synthesis of latest research on consumers’ understanding of food labels or health claims.

Features

Key features of PEN that make it your first choice for practice guidance:

PEN Practice Placement Tools	What This Tool Will Do for You
Background	Provides “general knowledge” information about a topic/condition/issue that will be useful to new practitioners or will serve as a refresher for more experienced health professionals.
Client Tools and Resources	Access to various tools and resources for your clients that have been reviewed against the PEN System evidence.
Contact Us	Enables you to contact the PEN® Team for technical, content or subscription issues or to provide feedback.
My Account	Lets you update your personal profile with changes to your contact information to ensure receipt of messaging from the PEN System.
My PEN® Content Alerts	My PEN® Content Alerts allow you to sign up for monthly or quarterly e-mail alerts about new and updated content in your preferred Knowledge Pathways.
My PEN® Favourites	You can save your favourite PEN website knowledge objects (Knowledge Pathways, Backgrounds, Practice Guidance Toolkits, and tools and resources) in one place.
PEN Client Handouts	Enables you to download client and practitioner-tested tools designed according to the best evidence in adult education. PEN client handouts may be customized with your own logo and contact information. They can be printed or emailed from PEN System directly to your client or colleague. All handouts are available in English and French and many consider multi-cultural foods and dietary practices.
PEN® eNews	This is a bimonthly e-newsletter shared with the global PEN Community and created to help dietitians position themselves as leaders in evidence-based nutrition practice. In addition, users of the PEN System will find articles on the new evidence, resources and features available and how to maximize one's use of the PEN System.
Powerful Search Capabilities	Helps you find what you are looking for quickly and easily using any of three methods: search by key words, narrow your search using the Advanced Search feature, or browse the Table of Contents.
Practice Guidance Toolkit	Provides easy access to practice information on each section of the Nutrition Care Process and incorporating Nutrition Care Process Terminology (NCPT).
Professional Tools and Resources	Links you to the best in evidence-based practice guidance professional tools and resources with just a click of your mouse.
Searchable Glossary	Provides instant definitions of terms through embedded links.
Submit a Content Idea	Can't find an answer to your practice question? Have a suggestion for new content? This feature enables you to contribute to the PEN System's database to build future content for the service.
Summary of Recommendations and Evidence	Provides an overview of key practice points (recommendation, evidence summary and grades of evidence) in a Knowledge Pathway.
What's New?	Keeps you abreast of new content added to the PEN System since your last visit and what's on the horizon for new and enhanced knowledge pathway content.

Updated January 2023