Evidence Synthesis Ireland (ESI), which hosts Cochrane Ireland, aims to make evidence syntheses more usable in every sense of the word – better designed, conducted and reported, more useable for decision-makers and more usable within health care policy and clinical practice decision making across the island of Ireland and beyond.
We provide education for researchers, clinicians, the public and policymakers who conduct or use evidence syntheses.
We build capacity in planning, doing and sharing evidence syntheses through Fellowships, workshops and scholarships.
We advance the way we plan, do and share the results of evidence synthesis by finding out how to do these steps better.
may 2024
To register, click here Integrating the findings of a qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) with the findings of a review of intervention effects can offer many insights
To register, click here
Integrating the findings of a qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) with the findings of a review of intervention effects can offer many insights including potential reasons for variation in intervention outcomes. QES often generate theories and explanations for why and how interventions work from the perspectives of those delivering or using them; by integrating these theories with evidence on intervention effects, review teams can offer vital information to support implementation of review findings in practice settings. However guidance on the difficult task of integrating the different evidence types is limited and there are few worked examples of methods for integration. In this webinar Katy will illustrate a wide range of different options for integrating QES and intervention evidence, drawing on real integration examples. Through these examples Katy will illustrate the diversity of integration methods and tools and critically examine their strengths and limitations.
Dr Katy Sutcliffe is an Associate Professor at the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordination Centre (EPPI Centre), Institute of Education, University College London. She is the Deputy Director of the London-York NIHR Policy Reviews Facility which produces research syntheses to support the Department of Health and Social Care’s policy decisions. Katy specialises in developing systematic review methods for producing policy-relevant evidence, in particular qualitative and mixed-methods evidence syntheses and approaches for identifying the key ingredients and underlying mechanisms of interventions.
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(Thursday) 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
ONLINE
Conducting Time-limited or resource-constrained qualitative evidence syntheses: rapid QES, QES updates and overviews (“TIME-FLIES”) Background Qualitative evidence synthesis has become a particular growth area within evidence synthesis and systematic reviews. It is
Conducting Time-limited or resource-constrained qualitative evidence syntheses: rapid QES, QES updates and overviews (“TIME-FLIES”)
Background
Qualitative evidence synthesis has become a particular growth area within evidence synthesis and systematic reviews. It is becoming increasingly difficult to explore a health or social care topic without encountering one or more qualitative evidence syntheses (QESs). At the same time there is increasing pressure from decision-makers in policy or practice to provide timely answers to issues that relate to the acceptability, feasibility and meaningfulness of health and social care interventions. This workshop will explore three different but related routes to providing qualitative evidence within resource-limited contexts – the rapid QES, the overview of multiple QESs and the update of one or more QESs.
Aim
The aim of this workshop is to open up and fully explore the variety of responses to a demand for synthesising qualitative research speedily and efficiently. We have designed this workshop to allow attendees to apply what they learn to any type of qualitative evidence synthesis, regardless of whether it is standard or resource-constrained, with tips for productive and efficient working.
This workshop will lead attendees through the complete process of guideline development with GRADE using a concrete example, starting with the selection of a relevant PICO question and ending with the formulation of a recommendation. The GRADEpro GDT software is used for this purpose. The thematic focus is on assessing the certainty of the underlying evidence as well as the strength of the recommendation. In lectures, we introduce GRADE and explain its use with examples.
Objectives
The objective of this workshop is to provide participants with a toolkit of methods to plan and deliver a variety of QES-related outputs and the skills required to deliver them.
Learning outcomes
In this course participants will be enabled to:
Dates: 22nd May 2024
Time: 10:00 – 16:00
Places: 20 available for individuals who are resident in Ireland & Northern Ireland
Location: University of Galway
Prices: General €180; Student €70
Prerequisites: A working knowledge of qualitative evidence synthesis methods.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:
Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers, librarians, information specialists, and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows and teaching faculty who would like to learn more about alternatives to standard qualitative evidence syntheses, particularly when time is tight or resources are constrained.
Facilitator:
Professor Andrew Booth
Professor in Evidence Synthesis, Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR), University of Sheffield and Adjunct Professor – University of Limerick.
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(Wednesday) 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Irish Standard Time
University of Galway
University Road
june 2024
*This workshop is for healthcare practitioners currently and exclusively engaged in delivering clinical care in Ireland or Northern Ireland. The aim of the workshop is to give confidence to read and
The aim of the workshop is to give confidence to read and interpret research evidence, such that one is equipped to use evidence in decision-making. The main focus of the workshop is the use and critical appraisal of systematic reviews to support in decision-making.
Date: 11th June 2024
Time: 8.30 – 12.00 pm
Fee: €30
CPD Credits: 3.0 CPD credits have been assigned to this event
Target Audiences and Places: 30 places available for healthcare practitioners currently and exclusively engaged in delivering clinical care in Ireland or Northern Ireland. Those currently engaged in research only or with a joint post are not eligible.
Skill level: Introductory
Teaching strategies: This workshop will take place online. Participants will be sent pre-reading of a published paper to complete before the start of the session.
Facilitator: Erica Ison is the lead for the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme at the Oxford Centre for Triple Value Healthcare. She is an experienced trainer/facilitator in a range of fields and has worked with a variety of people from health and care professionals and third sector personnel to politicians, students and members of the public.
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(Tuesday) 8:30 am - 12:00 pm
ONLINE
To register, click here Clinical guidelines are invaluable tools in ensuring that patients receive the best available care, however there are many shortcomings associated with traditional
To register, click here
Clinical guidelines are invaluable tools in ensuring that patients receive the best available care, however there are many shortcomings associated with traditional guidelines, primarily their risk of becoming outdated as new evidence becomes available, and their inability to adapt to changes in policy and practice. Living guideline methods encompass a dynamic process of updating recommendations, context and scope, helping to overcome issues inherent in traditional guidelines by ensuring that the evidence base and supporting information remains up-to-date. Although living methods are still evolving, they have been successfully applied to many different topic areas including COVID-19, stroke and diabetes care. This webinar will focus on the appropriateness of living guideline, advances in living guideline methods, their successful application to critical areas of care, and challenges in keeping a recommendation ‘living’.
Heath is the Director of Evidence and Methods at the Australian Living Evidence Consortium, based at Cochrane Australia, Monash University. Prior to this, he was the Evidence Lead at the Australian Clinical Evidence Taskforce (formerly the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce) and the Australian Living Diabetes Guidelines program. Heath has previously worked within the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, where he contributed to the development of the ‘Guidelines for Guidelines’ program and has several years’ experience in developing systematic reviews and clinical guidelines with the Joanna Briggs Institute and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He is a member of the Guidelines International Network GINAHTA and GIN-ANZ Steering Committees, and co-author of the recently developed Living Guidelines handbook and associated series of papers in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, among others.
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(Thursday) 10:00 am - 11:00 am
ONLINE
Background One of the key features of all evidence synthesis is to conduct a systematic search. Systematic literature searching requires that we plan and run searches in a way that ensures
Background
One of the key features of all evidence synthesis is to conduct a systematic search. Systematic literature searching requires that we plan and run searches in a way that ensures clarity, validity and reliability. Documenting the searching process is vital to ensure transparency and reproducibility.
Aim
This workshop provides attendees with the knowledge and skills to conduct a basic systematic search of the literature including designing and running searches on key databases and identifying and selecting search filters.
Learning outcomes
In this course, participants will be enabled to:
Dates: 21st June 2024
Time: 09:00 – 16:00
Location: Durkan Theatre, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, St James’s Hospital, Dublin 8
Places: 30 available for individuals who are resident in Ireland & Northern Ireland
Skill Level: Introductory
Target Audience
Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision makers, librarians, information specialists, and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows and teaching faculty who would like to learn more about systematic searching.
Teaching Strategies
The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations and small group activities with practical exercises. Please bring along your laptop for the exercises. Questions and discussion are encouraged. A short reading list/activity list will be sent to enrolled attendees in advance of the session.
Facilitator
Julie Glanville, an independent consultant and trainer in information retrieval. Julie has worked in systematic reviews for more than 25 years as Associate Director of York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) (2008-2019) and Associate Director at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), University of York (1994 – 2008). Julie was a co-convenor of the Cochrane Information Retrieval Methods Group and is a co-author of the Cochrane Handbook chapter on searching for evidence and the 2020 PRISMA guidance.
*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@nuigalway.ie
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(Friday) 9:00 am - 4:00 pm UTC+1
Durkan Theatre, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8
The innovative ESI Fellowships give Fellows the opportunity to learn about evidence synthesis, with hands-on experience of how to plan, design, conduct and report an evidence synthesis. Fellows are placed virtually with world-class evidence synthesis centres and review teams in Ireland and internationally.
We’re committed to improving how we gather, interpret, and share vast amounts of information, a process known as evidence synthesis. Our approach isn’t just about conducting research; it’s about improving the very methods we use to plan, conduct, and share the results of this process.
We work in many different research areas relevant to evidence synthesis and have a particularly strong focus on rapid reviews, knowledge translation and “studies within a review” (SWARs).
“ Reporting on health care topics can rely too much on asking experts or reporting the results of a single study…what would be much more useful to members of the public, especially when it comes to making decisions about their own health, is for people to understand how to situate health claims in the global body of evidence. “