Training and Webinars

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 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: 6th & 7th July 2021

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 is an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Bristol Medical School, where he is using evidence synthesis methods to examine the relationship between blood lipid levels and dementia risk.

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: 9th, 10th, 16th & 17th September 2021

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 and bring their laptop to the workshop.

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 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.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that the research community is currently grappling with an infodemic – an explosion of research literature that makes it almost impossible for individuals to stay abreast of an evidence base. At the same time, the range of tools available for research discovery is continuing to expand. However, researchers often lack the necessary searching skills to transparently and comprehensively find research. Here, Dr Haddaway introduces a framework for types of searching, and highlight why it is vital that researchers understand the different types of searching. He also discusses the importance of appraising research discovery facilities, like Google Scholar, to ensure that they function the way we expect, and to drive up the quality of search tools available to use. Only with a combination of appropriate tools and practices can we deal with steadily increasing evidence bases across disciplines.

Neal Haddaway is a Senior Research Fellow at SEI and has a Humboldt Fellowship at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. His background is in environmental management and biological conservation. Since 2012, Neal has worked with evidence synthesis, primarily in the environmental field, but particularly with a focus on methods development and the use of technology to optimize the accessibility, efficiency, transparency, and rigour of systematic reviews and systematic maps. Neal is the co-founder of the Evidence Synthesis Hackathon, a Co-Chair of the Campbell Collaboration Climate Solutions Coordinating Group, and Leader of the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence centre in Sweden.

Click this link to register for this webinar: REGISTER HERE

*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 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: 21st September 2021

Time: 10.00-13.30

Target Audiences and Places: 30 places available for healthcare practitioners currently and exclusively engaged in delivering clinical care in Ireland or Northern Ireland.

As places are limited and free, please only register if you are confident that you can attend. We will operate a wait-list. Those currently engaged in research only or with a joint post are not eligible; but please email expressions of interest in a future workshop to esi@nuigalway.ie

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. This event is accredited for 3.0 CPD points (external, RCSI).

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.

Overview

Join us to learn:

• How to run advance searches
• How to use the Search Manager
• New PICO search
• How to use MeSH

Presenters

Ale Barciela, Customer Experience Training Manager, Wiley.

Ale Barciela has over 10 years of experience with Wiley working in different roles in editorial, marketing, product development, and customer success. As a Training Manager, Ale works with institutions, universities, corporations and consortia globally making sure that users and administrators are equipped to make the most out of Wiley’s products and content. She is passionate about learning technology and education

Colleen Finley, Product Manager, Wiley.

With over 34 years of experience in publishing, Colleen has an extensive background in product management for digital platforms, with emphasis on database creation and search. As a Product Manager for Wiley Online Library and Cochrane Library search, she evaluates user needs and creates requirements for new features. Prior to joining Wiley, Colleen worked at Elsevier as Online Product manager for Embase.

ONLINE PLATFORM

GoToWebinar

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: 7th, 8th, 13th, 14th & 15th October

Time: 10:15 – 13:45

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)

Dr Heiki Raatz (Institute for Evidence in Medicine, University Medical Centre, Freiburg, Germany) 

Dr Blin Nagavci (Institute for Evidence in Medicine, University Medical Centre, Freiburg, Germany)

This workshop provides authors, at the beginning of the QES process, with a comprehensive overview of Qualitative Evidence Synthesis and how Cochrane QES reviews are structured. It offers an insight into the development of a Cochrane protocol, introducing participants to Cochrane methodology, search methods, data extraction and meta-synthesis. In this course, participants will be enabled to:

• Understand the basic principles of a qualitative evidence synthesis

• 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 extracting and synthesising findings from a QES

• Understand the application of Grade CERQual to QES findings

Date: 9th & 10th November 2021

Time: 9:30am – 1:30pm (both days)

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

Skill Level: Introductory

Target Audience: Healthcare professionals, academics, researchers and ESI fellows who have identified a QES review topic and are ready to begin working on their protocol

Teaching Strategies: The workshop will consist of a mixture of short presentations, led by members of the ESI teaching faculty, covering each of the stages of developing a QES. Breakout rooms will be used for small group activities based around worked examples and exercises and plenary discussions, providing participants with the opportunity to discuss and develop their understanding of the QES process. Participants will also be provided with a short reading list in advance of the workshop.

Facilitators: 

Dr Linda Biesty is a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery at the School of Nursing & Midwifery in NUI Galway

Dr Pauline Meskell is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing & Health Research at the Department of Nursing & Midwifery in the University of Limerick

Dr Catherine Houghton is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the School of Nursing & Midwifery in NUI Galway

Dr Maura Dowling is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the School of Nursing & Midwifery in NUI Galway