By Quinn Grundy, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney
#EvidentlyInspiring? #SystematicallyEngaging? #CollaborationSensation? In the weeks following the recentAustralasian Cochrane Symposium, I’m absorbing the experience and attempting to capture it in a hashtag that will be retweeted across the globe proclaiming that #evidencematters!
As a first-timer at a Cochrane meeting, I found it so refreshing that some of the biggest issues facing evidence-based health care were discussed openly and tackled seriously. We could both indulge our inner-nerd with the latest methodological advances in tools, tech and statistics, and explore head-on ‘the beasts’ threatening health care worldwide: conflicts of interest, overdiagnosis and the problem of too much medicine. Presenters highlighted that Cochrane’s commitment to independence and the production of high-quality, relevant and useable reviews could ensure the preservation of public trust in evidence and encourage its uptake by decision-makers.
If you couldn’t be there in person, here are some of the highlights that I took away:
If your systematic review is feeling a bit chaotic, why not clean it up with the very handy TIDieR, checklist from Tammy Hoffman and colleagues
The kind of health care you receive might depend on your postcode: explore some fascinating health and demographic insights in the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s new Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation
Ensure your review is read in all the right places using the Communications Plan template from Cochrane Public Health
Stay tuned: Julian Higgins tipped us off that the risk of bias assessment tool for non-randomized studies has had a makeover and will soon make its debut!
Cochrane’s policy on Conflicts of Interest and Cochrane Reviews was Lisa Bero’s surprise choice for a good holiday read.
And finally, be on the lookout as headlines touting the latest Cochrane review will soon grace your morning paper or digital media fix. In the final rousing Symposium session, we witnessed three brave Cochrane authors put themselves under the spotlight to pitch their research to former ABC journalist Ray Moynihan and fellow media insiders from the Herald Sun and The Conversation. The takeaway message? Little did we know it, one of Cochrane’s favourite conclusions, ‘this intervention probably doesn’t work’, could actually be front-page news in the near future. We look forward to reading all about it!