The latest Cochrane news from around Australia and beyond
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New review explores the evidence on family-centred care programs for Indigenous early childhood well-being
A Cochrane review published last month found there was a small improvement in the overall health and well-being of Indigenous children and their families when they participated in family-centred care programmes at a primary healthcare service.
‘We know that primary healthcare, particularly Indigenous-led services, are well placed to deliver services that reflect the needs of Indigenous children and their families,' explains leader author Dr Natalie Strobel (pictured above).
'Of our author team of nine, four are Aboriginal and have worked in health services as nurses and midwives for a long time. Families want primary healthcare services that both support them and recognise Indigenous ways of knowing and doing business. This can be delivered through environmental, communication, educational, counselling, and family support approaches.’
'Overall, this was a huge and complex review that was really challenging to deliver but we’re so pleased we could do it. I really have to hand it to the team – it was their sheer persistence that delivered this review, and the reward now for us is having this really high quality piece of work that people from health services can use to show how effective their programs are.'
'We wanted to support local services to advocate for themselves and now they can use this information as they need – either to show where they might need to make changes or to demonstrate that what they're doing is effective and benefits children, families and communities. They are really making a difference.’
Health equity, rights and representation in research: moving towards an action- and justice-oriented approach
Cochrane Australia's Senior Research Officer Melissa Murano this week published a reflective article on her work for the WHO's induction of labour guideline project and the research landscape more broadly.
'In the year since the publication of the WHO recommendations update and our paper in Health Research and Policy Systems, it’s become clear to me how important it is that as a white researcher living and working in a settler colonial country, I continually inform and challenge myself,' Melissa writes. 'I need to work to develop values- and theory-based positions on concepts such as equity, rights, justice, sovereignty and representation.'
'These aren’t just ‘empty concepts’ that can be left unexamined, but have real and tangible meanings and impacts on people’s lives through the work that we do as evidence reviewers and guideline developers.'
C O C H R A N E N E W S
Cochrane’s Editor in Chief, Dr Karla Soares-Weiser published an editorial to mark the end of 2022 and the beginning of Cochrane's 30th anniversary year in 2023.
In Looking back, looking forward: Cochrane at 30 and beyond, Karla reflects on Cochrane’s many contributions to global health, recognises past and future challenges, and shares her gratitude to the Cochrane community – who for three decades have delivered the trusted evidence our rapidly changing world needs.
And incidentally, the editorial offered the first glimpse of Cochrane's new-look celebratory 30 year anniversary logo.
Cochrane’s first ever open access journal is now open for submissions.
'Our new Cochrane Evidence Synthesis and Methods journal enables us to publish diverse types of evidence synthesis, methods research, and research on other areas vital to evidence synthesis,’ explains the new journal’s Editor, Michael Brown. ‘It provides a platform for disseminating research beyond systematic reviews from across Cochrane groups and collaborators, who until now, have not been able to publish their research in a Cochrane journal.'
The first seven of up to 20 new Cochrane Thematic Groups have been announced – each mapping to key areas of global health and social care.
The establishment of these interdisciplinary groups marks a major milestone in Cochrane's transition to a new production model. They include:
- Global Ageing
- Health Equity
- Nutrition and Physical Activity
- Person-Centred Care, Public Health and Health Systems
- Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Vascular
- Work and Health and Social Security
A series of feature profiles on each group will be published on futurecochrane.org in the coming months. The Future Cochrane site also includes information and regular updates about Cochrane's new production model and the major transition projects under way to deliver it.
In positive news for the local Cochrane community, two of the first Thematic Groups are lead by Australians. Find out more about Person-Centred Care, Public Health and Health Systems (Rebecca Ryan) and Nutrition and Physical Activity (Luke Wolfenden) below.
Characterised by close collaboration and cross-disciplinary expertise, Cochrane’s new Person-Centred Care, Health Systems and Public Health Thematic Group is drawn from a mighty trio of Cochrane Review Groups – Cochrane Consumers and Communication (CCC), Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC), and Cochrane Public Health (CPH).
Led by Rebecca Ryan (CCC, La Trobe University), Luke Wolfenden (CPH, University of Newcastle), Simon Lewin (EPOC, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Sasha Shepperd (EPOC, University of Oxford), the new Group has its sights set on bringing quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods expertise to evidence applied across diverse clinical areas, populations and contexts.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent one of our most complex and critical global challenges in terms of both health and equity. According to the WHO, NCDs like cancer, diabetes, heart and lung disease are responsible for 78% of all deaths globally – that’s over 41 million deaths each year.
These diseases and the risk factors that cause them disproportionately affect people in low- and middle-income countries, where more than three quarters of these deaths occur. In higher income settings, NCDs disproportionately affect lower income and socially marginalised populations. And in all corners of the world, the health, social and economic costs of this disease burden continue to climb.
Cochrane’s new Nutrition and Physical Activity Thematic Group is setting to work on better understanding and addressing two of the key risk factors associated with these diseases, to deliver improved health and equity for all.
Led by Cochrane Public Health’s Luke Wolfenden (Australia), and Cochrane Nutrition’s Celeste Naude and Solange Durão (South Africa), the new group draws together a wealth of experience and expertise in systematic reviews, methods and knowledge translation across public health, nutrition, physical activity and obesity.
T R A I N I N G
Writing a systematic review following Cochrane methods
15 March – 26 April (online)
This popular workshop offers a comprehensive overview of the methods required to write a protocol and get started on a review. It's suitable for people with little or no experience in systematic reviews who have identified a topic and are either already working on or are about to start working on a review.
Join us online for six half-day sessions (9am-1pm) over 6 weeks from Wednesday 15 March to Wednesday 26 April.
* No session on Wednesday 12 April due to the Easter break.
Qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) and GRADE-CERQual
Tuesday 6 & Wednesday 7 June
(in person, Melbourne)
Qualitative evidence synthesis (QES), or systematic reviews of primary qualitative research, are becoming more common both within and outside Cochrane. The methods for undertaking these reviews are now well developed. Findings from QES are increasingly used in decision making processes, including to inform the development of clinical, health system and social welfare recommendations (e.g. by WHO, NICE) and to inform decisions across a wide range of public health and other areas.
This 2-day course covers the steps involved in conducting systematic reviews of primary qualitative research following Cochrane methods.
Using the GRADE Evidence-to-Decision framework to make healthcare recommendations and decisions
21 Feb 2023 (half day, online)
This half-day course introduces participants to the process of moving from evidence to recommendations using the GRADE framework in an interactive mock panel. It is suitable for guideline panel members and technical teams responsible for preparing Evidence-to-Decision frameworks. This workshop can be done as an optional or stand-alone session.
E V E N T S
The Colloquium is back!
Find out more and register for this year's big event in London from 4-6 September 2023.
Register before 1 June for the reduced early bird rate. You can also submit an abstract now too.
