Training and Webinars

Trinity Health and Education International Research Conference 2021 (THEconf2021) is hosting an online workshop on Rapid Reviews. This workshop will be presented by Evidence Synthesis Ireland Teaching Faculty members Prof Valerie Smith (Prof in Midwifery, TCD) and Dr Linda Biesty (Lecturer in Midwifery, NUI Galway). The purpose for carrying out a rapid review and an overview of the methodology will be presented. The differences between rapid and full reviews (systematic reviews and qualitative evidence synthesis) will be explored. Reviewers’ experiences of undertaking rapid reviews will also be presented.

This workshop  will be held over two days and provides an opportunity for those who undertake their own searches for evidence syntheses, and those how work with librarians/information specialists on the study identification, to learn more about the process of searching for studies for evidence syntheses.  It addresses many of the key aspects of searching for evidence syntheses, in particular how this differs from searching for routine clinical practice/everyday questions.

Date: 18th, 19th, 22nd & 23rd March 2021

Time: 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm

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 using a GRADE-CERQual approach in qualitative evidence synthesis.

Prerequisites: 

Have a basic knowledge of qualitative evidence synthesis. Are interested in learning more on the GRADE-CERQual approach.

Teaching strategies

During each day of the workshop, facilitators will give a short introduction on the topic of the day. Workshop participants will then carry out an exercise related to this topic, followed by a session where the topic and exercise are discussed.

Facilitators

Dr Linda Biesty, School of Nursing and Midwifery, NUI Galway.

Dr Pauline Meskell, Department of Nursing & Midwifery, EHS Faculty, University of Limerick.

Dr Simon Lewin and Dr Claire Glenton, Cochrane Norway/EPOC, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, GRADE-CERQual Project Group.

Dr Claire Glenton, Cochrane Norway/EPOC, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, GRADE-CERQual Project Group.

Research trials in health and social care must be robust enough to be relevant and accessible by multiple stakeholders, including patients, practitioners, researchers, policy makers and funders. Core outcome sets (COS) allow the development of stakeholder-agreed key outcomes to use in future trials and further build an evidence base through inclusion in future meta-analyses. COS development arises from consideration of a scoping review of trials and a primary qualitative study of stakeholder views by a transdisciplinary COS advisory group. However, the primary qualitative research can be time consuming with unclear impact. This presentation will outline a recent innovation in COS methods that explored the potential added value of a qualitative systematic review of stakeholder perspectives alongside a systematic review of trial outcomes to inform COS development in neonatal care using case analysis methods. Using these methods together identified more outcome domains for COS group consideration and greater depth of understanding.

The presenter for this webinar is Dr. Ginny Brunton. Dr. Brunton is an Associate Professor in Nursing at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Canada. She has twenty-five years experience as a Research Methodologist, focused on evidence synthesis with colleagues at the EPPI-Centre, London and McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. These methods have focused on quantitative and qualitative research, particularly research on the public’s views of their health and care, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, ESRC, NIHR and CIHR. These research synthesis methods include the use of framework synthesis and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).

Dr. Brunton’s work arises from an interest in communities and their involvement in health intervention development, implementation and evaluation. She has conducted systematic reviews of community engagement in health promotion, most currently to inform NICE guidance updating. She has also studied issues in maternal-infant health, including core outcome set development for neonatal ICU care that used an innovative mixed methods approach.

Evidence and gap maps (EGMs) are an innovative way to visualise the evidence and gaps in the evidence base relating to a defined topic area or broad question. They are powerful tools to support decision making in research and commissioning. In this workshop you will be guided by experts to learn about EGMs; what they are and are not, where to find them, how to use them and how to build your own. This workshop is suitable for a range of evidence users and no prior knowledge is required. It is also not limited to a specific topic so we encourage participants to join us from any discipline or background.

Date: 4th & 5th May 2021

Time: 10am – 12:30pm

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

Skill level: Introductory

Target Audience: Health and social care professionals, academics, researchers, PhD students, policy makers, decision makers, Campbell or Cochrane review authors and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows.

Teaching strategies: 

The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations, individual and group exercises, discussions and demonstrations. The expert facilitators will encourage questions and interaction throughout to get the most out of live participation.

Facilitators:

Dr Jennifer Hanratty is a research professional with ten years’ experience in evaluation and evidence synthesis with published systematic reviews and evidence and gap maps for WHO, Campbell, Cochrane and NIHR Health Technology Assessment amongst others. Jennifer has a PhD in psychology and an enduring interest in children’s emotional health and wellbeing and the impact of childhood maltreatment and trauma. Jennifer is Editor for the Education Coordinating Group and recently joined the Centre for Effective Services, an all-Ireland organisation working to support the use of evidence to improve services

Dr Ciara Keenan is a Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast with an established international reputation in evidence synthesis methodology. Systematic review projects have demonstrated her expertise in the intersections of health, social welfare, disability, and education. Ciara is most committed to capacity building in evidence synthesis which has led to her work as Founder and Editor of the meta-evidence blog and twitter’s @evidencerobot and @COVID_Evidence. Ciara is currently Co-Convenor of the Campbell Collaboration’s Information Scientist Network, a Methods Editor and Information Retrieval specialist for Campbell’s Education Coordinating Group (ECG).

Dr Melissa Bond is an EPPI-Reviewer Support Officer at University College London. Prior to this, she worked as a Research Associate as part of the ActiveLearn project at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, from 2017-2020. She successfully defended her PhD in July 2020, with the focus ‘Facilitating student engagement through educational technology in K-12’, supervised by Prof. Dr. Olaf Zawacki-Richter, receiving a Magna cum Laude. .Melissa is a peer reviewer for many top journals, including Educational Research Review, Computers & Education, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, British Journal of Educational Technology, Distance Education, eLeed Journal and the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.

This workshop  will be held over two days and provides an opportunity for those who undertake their own searches for evidence syntheses, and those how work with librarians/information specialists on the study identification, to learn more about the process of searching for studies for evidence syntheses.  It addresses many of the key aspects of searching for evidence syntheses, in particular how this differs from searching for routine clinical practice/everyday questions.

Date: 1st & 2nd June 2021

Time: 10.00 am – 3.00 pm

Places: 25 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 the process of searching for studies for systematic reviews and other evidence syntheses.

Prerequisites: A basic knowledge of searching databases such as MEDLINE/ PubMed; An interest in improving their own search skills and/or understanding better how to work more effectively with their librarian/information specialist to identify studies for evidence syntheses

Teaching strategies

The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations, small group and plenary discussions, together with practical exercises.

Facilitators

Ms Carol Lefebvre

This workshop provides a definition of scoping reviews, describes when a scoping review is appropriate, as well describes as how they are conducted and reported.  The workshop will provide participants with the fundamentals of scoping reviews regarding their conduct and reporting.

Date: 8th June 2021

Time: 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm

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

Skill level: Introductory

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers, PhD students, decision makers and Evidence Synthesis Ireland fellows.

Teaching strategies:  This course will be interactive and consist of a short presentations and small group activity.

Facilitator: Dr. Andrea C. Tricco, Director & Scientist, Knowledge Synthesis Team, Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto.