Training and Webinars

The speakers for this webinar are: Dr. Kieran Walsh and Dr. Laura Comber (HIQA). Dr Kieran Walsh and Dr Laura Comber are HTA Research Analysts with HIQA, based in the Cork and Dublin offices, respectively. Currently, they are working on the COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis Team developing evidence-based advice to inform policy questions from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally form Tipperary, Kieran completed a PhD in UCC on the topic of antipsychotic prescribing in people with dementia, prior to joining HIQA in 2018. Kieran is a qualified pharmacist and continues to practice in community pharmacy. Laura is a physiotherapist by background and originally from Limerick. After completing her PhD in the area of falls in people with multiple sclerosis at UL, she went on to lecture in the School of Allied Health at UL before joining HIQA in 2019.

This webinar will discuss the experience of the HIQA COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis Team. HIQA develops evidence-based advice in response to requests from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). The advice is informed by research evidence developed by the team with expert input from HIQA’s COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group (EAG). This process helps to ensure rapid access to the best available evidence relevant to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and is used to inform decision-making at each stage of the pandemic. For this webinar, Kieran and Laura will focus on two recent policy questions posed by NPHET. The first related to the duration of self-isolation, and the second was in relation to restriction of movements.  These are two key public health measures that are critical for controlling the pandemic. This webinar will outline the steps involved in developing evidence-based advice for NPHET.  The Evidence Synthesis Team is currently in the process of expanding.

Please click here to register for this webinar on Zoom.

This workshop  will be held over four mornings and provides authors at the beginning of the systematic review process, with an in-depth understanding of how reviews are structured. It offers an insight to the development of a protocol, introducing participants to methodology, search methods, data extraction and meta-analysis. This workshop also includes an introduction to RevMan software and its use during protocol development.

Date: 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd January 2021

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Places: 20 available for individuals who are resident on the island of Ireland

Skill level: Introductory

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision-makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows who have identified a review topic and are ready to begin working on their protocol.

Prerequisites: Have a basic knowledge of health research. Are interested in learning more on the methodology of a review. Participants are requested to install the RevMan software and bring their laptop to the workshop.

Learning outcomes

In this course participants will be enabled to:

• Understand the basic principles of a systematic review
• Identify the scope of their review
• Understand search methods and apply these methods to their search strategy
• Apply the criteria for selecting studies
• Understand the principles of creating a data collection form and of data extraction.
• Attain a basic understanding of principles of meta-analysis
• Identify heterogeneity and understand the methods for assessing and addressing it

Teaching strategies

The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations, led by members of the Cochrane Ireland teaching faculty covering each of the stages of developing a systematic review protocol, small group activities and plenary discussions, providing participants with the opportunity to develop and refine their protocol.

Facilitators

Prof Declan Devane, Professor in Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, NUI Galway

Ms Elaine Finucane, Research Associate, Centre for Health Evaluation, Methodology Research and Evidence Synthesis (CHEMRES), NUI Galway.

Dr Fionnuala Jordan, Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, NUI Galway.

Healthcare consumer (patients, carers, and the public) involvement in research is a growing movement across the world, including in evidence synthesis. Cochrane is the world’s largest producer of systematic reviews and has a long history of involvement, though not consistently or throughout the evidence production cycle.

This webinar, presented by: Richard Morley (Consumer Engagement Officer, Cochrane) and Maureen Smith (Chair, Cochrane Consumer Network Executive), will:

(i) explain the rationale for consumer involvement in evidence synthesis

ii) describe the framework for involvement from Pollock et al “Development of the ACTIVE framework to describe stakeholder involvement in systematic reviews” (2019) https://doi.org/10.1177/1355819619841647,

(iii) hear from consumers and researchers who have collaborated in the production of systematic reviews and

(iv) share a range of practical resources for consumers and researchers.

The webinar will be followed by a Twitter chat hosted by @Cochraneconsumr.

Richard is Cochrane’s Consumer Engagement Officer. He supports the engagement and involvement of healthcare consumers (patients, carers, and the public) in Cochrane’s research and governance, including working with a growing network of 1750 volunteers across the world. He works with Cochrane authors and Groups and a range of partnerships that support this engagement, including the new International Network for Patient and Public Involvement in Research, of which he was a founder member. Richard has extensive experience of public engagement and partnership working in the voluntary, public and higher education sectors. He has worked as an adviser for the James Lind Alliance, supporting research priority setting at the University of York’s Department of Health Science on patient involvement where he is a Visiting Fellow.

Maureen Smith has a long history of collaboration with the healthcare system subsequent to a rare disease diagnosis in childhood. She is the chair of Cochrane’s Consumer Executive and is involved in several Cochrane projects and advisory committees. Maureen is a member of the COMET Initiative’s People and Patient Participation, Involvement and Engagement (PoPPIE) Working Group. In Canada, she is an enthusiastic, committed patient partner on several patient-oriented research projects and is the co-vice-chair of Ontario’s SPOR Support Unit’s Patient Partner Working Group. For the past 12 years, Maureen has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD). She continues to serve as a patient member on the Ontario Committee to Evaluate Drugs since 2014 and the Ontario Health Technology Assessment Committee for the past four years.

Please click here to register for this webinar on Zoom.