Increasing the Impact of Maternal and Neonatal Health Systematic Reviews

高质量系统评价的结果不仅为有效的规划提供了最佳策略

Results from high-quality systematic reviews provide not only the best strategy for effective program development but also show where evidence is lacking and further research is needed. These reviews are also a helpful source of information for developing didactic materials and tools and guidelines for both health care providers and consumers. There is a need for greater involvement among U.S. professionals in developing systematic reviews, as well as a need for the more effective implementation of the results of such reviews. We propose to host a conference (April 26-28, 2006) that will assess the barriers to conducting and implementing the results of systematic reviews, thereby facilitating an increase in the impact of systematic reviews in maternal and neonatal health. The conference will foster discussion around three objectives: 1) to identify needs for administrative and technical support to reviewers in the preparation of systematic reviews, including the development of protocols and the identification of relevant topics on maternal and neonatal issues for the Americas; 2) to identify new ways to encourage and assist current reviewers in updating their reviews on a regular basis; and 3) to identify the best strategies to widely diffuse existing evidence from systematic reviews to health care professionals, stakeholders, policy makers and health researchers and to encourage the use of evidence-based practices in the Americas. Prior to the conference, selected healthcare professionals will be asked to write a position paper on each of the objectives of the conference. Two professionals will be assigned for each objective, and they will then play the role of moderators during the workshops. The papers will be circulated before the conference among registered participants to guide discussion during the workshops. The topics selected for discussion will include the needs and barriers encountered by reviewers in preparing new reviews and in updating existing reviews. Discussion will also center on necessary strategies to diffuse and implement available evidence. Each workshop will address one specific objective and will result in a final report. The reports will then be used to define the strategic plan of a program that will be established at the Tulane Center for Evidence-Based Global Health (CEBGH), which will assist reviewers in the Americas in performing and updating systematic reviews on maternal and neonatal health and promote the diffusion and implementation of evidence-based practices. The conference will be attended by Cochrane reviewers from the Americas, as well as by representatives from the AHRQ and the EPCs, the Cochrane Collaboration in the United States, the NICHD Global Network for Women's and Children's Health Research and the Cochrane Pregnancy & Childbirth Review Group in the UK and Canada. Plenary sessions will be open to the public, including students and faculty from the Tulane University Health Sciences Center.