Training and Webinars

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 into 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: 29th & 30th September, 6th & 7th October 2022

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Places: 30 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.

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. This course will include blended learning with two months free access to Cochrane Interactive Learning self-directed learning modules, a number of which will be required study prior to the workshop

Facilitators

Prof Anne Matthews, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University.

Prof Veronica Lambert, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University.

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 into 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: 29th & 30th September, 6th & 7th October 2022

Time: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Places: 30 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.

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. This course will include blended learning with two months free access to Cochrane Interactive Learning self-directed learning modules, a number of which will be required study prior to the workshop

Facilitators

Prof Anne Matthews, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University.

Prof Veronica Lambert, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University.

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.

Attendees will be enabled to understand the basic principles of the GRADE approach and be able to comprehend the individual steps in the assessment of the evidence and their impact on the strength of the recommendation; be able to create an evidence profile for a therapeutic intervention based on a systematic review; & have a basic understanding of the GRADE Software

Dates: 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th & 28th October

Time: 10:00 – 13:30

Places: 24 available for individuals who are resident in Ireland & Northern Ireland

Skill Level: Introductory

Target Audience: Systematic review authors, guideline developers, health and social care professionals, academics, researchers, postgraduate students, decision makers, Evidence Synthesis Ireland Fellows and other professionals

Prerequisites: Knowledge in conducting and/or using systematic reviews as well as the basic principles of evidence-based healthcare, and the critical appraisal of research studies, especially RCTs

Teaching Strategies: The workshop will consist of a mixture of presentations and exercises in small groups

Facilitators:

Ingrid Töws (Institute for Evidence in Medicine, University Medical Centre, Freiburg, Germany)

Dr Nuala Livingstone (Cochrane)

Dr Chris Noone (NUI Galway)

To register, click here

This webinar will provide an overview of methods for considering equity, diversity and inclusion in systematic reviews in health and social sciences, with examples of good practice.  This builds on the Cochrane Handbook chapter on equity and specific populations, as well as ongoing work on promoting diversity and inclusion in trials and in systematic review teams as steps towards an inclusive evidence ecosystem.

Dr. Vivian Welch is editor in chief of the Campbell Collaboration, Director of the Methods Centre at the Bruyère Research Institute, and Associate Professor at University of Ottawa School of Epidemiology and Public Health. Her research interests include methods for synthesizing evidence on health equity. She led the Cochrane Handbook chapter on equity and specific populations and co-convenes the Campbell and Cochrane Equity methods group.

To register, click here

Systematic reviews are key to evidence-informed decisions but can be a long and challenging read. Working in trial methods, Trial Forge work done a few years ago found that most trial designers were unaware of systematic reviews on what might improve recruitment. The same is no doubt true for other trial processes. What the people we spoke really wanted was information on what is it, does it work and should I use it.  This was the basis for Trial Forge Evidence packs, which take their starting point in systematic reviews but then provide key information in a simple 2-page standard format. The packs also provide resources to support implementation and evaluation of the intervention. This talk will describe Trial Forge Evidence Packs and discuss ways in which they are being linked to systematic reviews and other resources to provide a simpler way for people to get up-to-date best evidence on intervention effects.

Prof. Shaun Treweek is a health services researcher at the University of Aberdeen interested in efficient trial design, particularly around recruitment and retention and the effective presentation of research evidence.  He also helped to develop PRECIS-2, a tool to match trial design decisions to the information needs of those intended to use the results.  He leads an initiative called Trial Forge (http://www.trialforge.org) that aims to be more systematic about how we identify, generate and use research evidence in making trial design, conduct, analysis and reporting decisions.  In 2019 Trial Forge won the international Cochrane-REWARD Prize for outstanding work in reducing waste in research.  Finally, Shaun is an Editor-in-Chief of the journal Trials.

The revised tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials (RoB 2) was published in late 2019, building on the established Cochrane risk-of-bias tool first released through the Cochrane Handbook in 2008. This online session will introduce introduce the RoB 2 tool, describe the risk-of-bias domains it considers, provide an overview of how the tool should be applied, and support the application of the tool. Participants will be enabled to (i) describe the key concepts of the RoB 2 tool & (ii) applied the revised RoB 2 in their reviews.

Date: 24th & 25th November

Time: 10am – 1pm

Places: 30 available for individuals who are resident in Ireland & Northern Ireland

Skill Level: Beginner

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, decision-makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland Fellows new to risk-of-bias assessment or who have performed risk-of-bias assessments before but are new to the RoB 2 tool.

Teaching Strategies: The workshop will consist of a mixture of presentations and practical sessions, along with a protected period for Q&A at the end. The practical sessions will be built around a practical “hands-on” risk-of-bias assessment.

Facilitator: Luke McGuinness, National College of Ireland.