Partnerships take centre stage on World Evidence-Based Health Care Day - 20 Oct 2022
Cochrane Australia and the National Covid-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce have much to reflect on and celebrate this World Evidence-Based Health Care Day. Held on 20 October, this annual global event highlights the need for better evidence to inform health care, and recognises the efforts of hard-working researchers, policymakers, clinicians and health workers everywhere.
This year’s theme focuses on partnerships and the many ways widespread collaboration can bridge research, policy and practice to realise the potential of evidence-based health care. The National COVID-19 Taskforce is both a practical and inspiring example of how this can be done.
‘When Covid first arrived on our shores, we knew next to nothing about the virus or how to treat it,’ says Taskforce Director Tari Turner. ‘It goes without saying that it was an incredibly stressful time for everyone, especially clinicians. The many partnerships Cochrane Australia forged to create the Taskforce in those early days ensured that all health workers soon had access to a single source of trusted, up-to-date, evidence-based living Covid guidelines.’
‘Given the rate at which new research was being published and the rapidly changing narratives around treatment and prevention, this was an extraordinary undertaking for the many researchers, clinicians, consumers and communications experts that signed up to the Taskforce panels and project teams. We know from regular feedback from clinicians that the living guidelines our members work so hard to produce together continue to be a much valued and accessed resource.’
The Taskforce has grown from a handful of founding members in March 2020 to a current membership of 34 national peak health organisations that contribute to multidisciplinary guideline panels and advisory groups.
In real terms this translates into a small army of more than 200 volunteer experts who have to date contributed over 27,000 hours of their time. Collectively they have delivered 22 clinical flowcharts and 200 recommendations that have been updated each and every week for 100 weeks (and counting).
The slideshow below maps out the many steps and mighty teamwork involved in each update of the living guidelines, which have over a million page views from all corners of the globe - reflecting an impact that reaches well beyond Australian borders.
‘I think what the Taskforce continues to show is that multidisciplinary collaboration at this scale can be established, nurtured and maintained. You can actually bring together a group that includes everyone from anaesthetists to GPs, midwives to physios … and they’re very happy to work together and share their perspectives as a group. The results? Amazing. We still have new members seeking to join us, and a genuine commitment from all our contributors to continue this work into the future.
‘We have all learned together and shared our growing knowledge with colleagues at the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Danish Health Authority, who were developing their own national guidelines. So you could say our partnerships are local, national and international, and deliver a bonus benefit of reducing research waste and duplication.’
‘Put simply, the Taskforce offers both living evidence and living proof that a genuine and innovative partnership approach can deliver the rapid and reliable evidence people need to inform healthcare practice and policy decisions. That’s just one of the many reasons we’ll be joining with Cochrane Australia to celebrate our contributors and their invaluable contributions this World Evidence Health Care Day 2022.’
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