Background: In line with Cochrane’s Strategy to 2020 aim to make evidence more widely accessible for local populations, the German-speaking Cochrane centres (Germany, Switzerland and Austria) cooperate in translating and disseminating Cochrane contents. They produce journalistic quality, plain language content for a blog and social media.

Objectives: To disseminate, under the Cochrane international umbrella yet adapted to local specificities, Cochrane content in three German-speaking countries via multiple media channels.

Methods: We streamline our communications with that of Cochrane International. To disseminate Cochrane content in German language we use four channels 1) Cochrane Kompakt containing translated Cochrane plain language summaries, 2) Wissen Was Wirkt: a German language blog, 3) social networks (Twitter and Facebook) with short messages; and, 4) our websites on a regular basis. Blogshots and press releases provided by Cochrane are translated by dedicated volunteers or centre staff and build the basis for our content. We monitor the access to all websites and the impact of all posts either manually (Twitter) or via Google analytics (blog) and Facebook Insight.

Results: As of February 2017 we published 1040 translated Cochrane plain-language summaries. From May 2015 to January 2017 we posted 97 edited journalistic blogposts. On average this translates into one blogpost per week. We started an intensified communication strategy in January 2017 and, since then, post daily on Twitter and Facebook. According to Google Analytics our Blog reaches about 1000-2000 visits per months (max. 4000 visits per month). There are 649 total facebook page likes and 448 followers on twitter for our dissemination channels.
Conclusions: To produce high-quality content for the blog and social media and to coordinate activities between three Cochrane centres is time consuming and needs designated resources on a very constant basis. The blog is a good channel to distribute Cochrane content. Streamlining the communication of Cochrane content and cooperating in its dissemination through a variety of channels allows for using synergies and efficient processes.