Cochrane Canada is affiliated with 25 healthcare organizations through a designated representative at each organization. Our partner organizations are an essential component of our mission to foster evidence-based decision-making. Through active partnerships and tailored knowledge transfer activities, we work with our partners to promote awareness, understanding and use of Cochrane Reviews by their members.
Cochrane Canada has worked with some of its partner organizations to develop and conduct several webinars. One example is the two-part webinar series on applying knowledge to practice which we developed and conducted with our partner, the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA). Each series contained three, one and a half hour webinars. The first series was titled “Knowing what to ask, where to look and the implications for practice” which was presented from April-May 2011. The second series in November 2011 explored, “Getting the evidence out of the closet - using systematic reviews to inform your practice”. During each webinar, two speakers, a clinical specialist from the CPA and a Cochrane Canada representative, presented, interacted and answered participants’ questions. At the end of the series participants stated their confidence and their ability to develop effective clinical questions and recognize quality evidence had increased, and they were more comfortable seeking and understanding answers to clinical questions. These modules continue to be offered on the CPA members’ website.
The Ontario Chiropractic Association (OCA), with the support of the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation (CCRF), and Cochrane Canada have partnered to meet the needs of OCA members by providing two webinar series on an “Introduction to Cochrane” in April–May in 2011 and in 2012. In addition, the first webinar in the “Using Evidence” webinar series was about “Decision Aids and their Uses: Chiropractic Applications”.
The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CHDA) also worked with Cochrane Canada on a live webinar series, “Getting On Board with Evidence-based Practice”. This series of three webinars covered:
• Why research matters: an introduction to evidence-based practice and The Cochrane Collaboration,
• Finding reliable research: matching your question with what’s in The Cochrane Library, and
• Navigating a systematic review.
These modules continue to be offered through the CDHA website.
Cochrane Canada, collaborating with the Dietitians of Canada, developed a three-module webinar series to train dietitians to peer review and encourage their involvement in the Cochrane Review process. Twenty-one stakeholders, representing 15 dietetic and nutrition related organizations worked with two members from Cochrane Canada in the discussion, planning and development of the modules. The modules were piloted and the final online webinars were launched in October 2012. Dietitians continue to complete the modules and, as a result of this training, many have become involved in the peer review process.
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) has also partnered with the Canadian Centre to map cancer-relevant Cochrane Reviews across the cancer control continuum from prevention to palliation in order to make them more accessible to practitioners and patients, identify critical research gaps, and identify opportunities for integrating the evidence into cancer control practice and policy.
Centre representatives support partner events by attending/exhibiting/presenting at conferences and meetings. The Cochrane Canada Knowledge Broker and a Cochrane Regional Representative presented a full-day workshop at the last Canadian Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists conference. The workshop, “Tapping into Cochrane: How Can an Evidence–Based Approach Support You in Your Practice,” provided an understanding of, and real time interactive searching about, evidence-based information in speech language pathology and audiology.
Cochrane Canada supports the involvement of health consumers in Canada. Consumer support is provided through stipends to defray costs for attending the annual Cochrane Canada Symposium. As well, we provide letters of support for consumers submitting abstracts to the international Cochrane Colloquium. Consumers attend and present at both symposia and colloquia. Several workshops and oral presentations are specifically focused on consumer interests. Some examples include:
• Knowledge translation of arthritis best practices: Getting Grip on Arthritis
• A panel addressing “Cochrane Summaries”
• Communicating evidence to consumers and patients: an update on Plain Language Summaries
• Consumer support and education beyond national borders: a case study
• More than just numbers: understanding statistics in Cochrane Reviews
• The patient perspective in systematic reviews: Proving feedback on Cochrane Reviews and protocols
The evaluation by consumers following the symposium indicated that consumers found “. . . many opportunities to network with fellow consumers and other attendees.”
These activities are coordinated by our Knowledge Broker, Eileen Vilis. Please contact Eileen at evilis@ohri.ca for more information about these activities or if you are interested in pursuing a partnership.
