Health Science

Health Knowledge Network

Bulletins

• Evidence Bulletins 2007-08
• Resource Bulletins 2007-08
• Development Process
• Using the Bulletins
• Other Bulletins: AMQuIP Bulletins 2006-07
• Feedback

Evidence and Resource bulletins are emailed monthly to Network members and published online.

Evidence Bulletins 2007-08

Evidence bulletins are accessible summaries of Cochrane systematic reviews relevant to communicating with and involving consumers and carers. Each Evidence bulletin is a summary of one recently published or recently updated review in The Cochrane Library.

• Evidence bulletin, 1 December 2008 (Dale's review of peer support telephone calls)
• Evidence bulletin, 25 June 2008 (Haynes' updated review of interventions for enhancing medication adherence)
• Evidence bulletin, 31 March 2008 (Ryan's review of audio-visual presentation of information for informed consent, for participation in clinical trials)
• Evidence bulletin, 31 January 2008 (Foster's review of self-management education programmes by lay leaders for people with chronic conditions)
• Evidence bulletin, 13 November 2007 (Kinnersley's review of interventions before consultations for helping patients address their information needs)
• Evidence bulletin, 5 September 2007 (Edwards' personalised risk communication review)
• Evidence bulletin, 23 July 2007 (Nilsen's consumer involvement review)

Resource Bulletins 2007-08

Resource bulletins are short e-newsletters with information on local and international resources relevant to consumer participation and health literacy issues (with a focus on evidence-based research and practice).

• Resource bulletin, 17 Nov 2008 (on the EQUATOR network, and health research methodology)
• Resource bulletin, 1 May 2008 (on podcasts of Cochrane reviews, and an online course for consumer advocates)
• Resource bulletin, 18 February 2008 (on two WHO publications)
• Resource bulletin, 12 December 2007 (on resources from Practihc)
• Resource bulletin, 9 October 2007 (on patient safety)
• Resource bulletin, 15 August 2007 (on 2007 Victorian Quality Council report)
• Resource bulletin, 13 June 2007 (on medicines and prescribing)

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Development Process

Evidence bulletins are designed to present the complex contents of a systematic review in a form that is accessible and relevant to a variety of audiences. First, an overview of the review is created by Network staff, then the Evidence bulletin is developed using content from both the overview and the review. The cover page of the completed Evidence bulletin presents the ‘focus of the review’ (often an outline of the review’s interventions) and the’ key findings’ (often the outcomes) of the review in a clear and visually engaging way. It becomes clear to the reader whether the topic is of interest and the bulletin is worth reading further, or whether it should be filed for future reference. The next 2 to 4 pages of the bulletin summarise the content of the review in a different but accessible format – narrow columns of text. The final pages of the bulletin present detailed technical information from the overview in a standardised format.

Using the Bulletins

Knowledge brokerage: an informal arrangement with you

We encourage organisations/individuals to use our resources. In particular we encourage you to use our Evidence bulletins.

We represent the ‘pull effort’ of knowledge transfer referred to by Lavis (2006). You can consider yourself to be part of the ‘push effort’ of knowledge transfer, where you are the messenger for your particular user group, sharing and forwarding information on to others in your organisation or network.

So: we encourage you to:

• Use our bulletins in your organisation;
• Copy bulletins;
• Forward bulletins on to others; and,
• Give us feedback: let us know who your audience is and how useful the resources are to them.

Other Bulletins: AMQuIP Bulletins 2006-07

AMQuIP evidence and resource bulletins give summaries of high-quality evidence related to consumer involvement in health care. They also provide information about the availability of relevant resources. The bulletins were funded by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Quality Improvement Program (AMQuIP), from the Chronic Disease and Palliative Care Branch of the Department of Health and Ageing. They were developed in 2006-07 and are available on the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group website.

Feedback on Bulletins

We welcome feedback on Bulletins by email to hkn@latrobe.edu.au or via our online contact form.

In 2008 we will conduct a formal evaluation of the Bulletins' accessibility, usability and relevance.

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