Tackling barriers to the use of trusted evidence for informing clinical practice: the German 'Cochrane for Physiotherapy!' resources

ID: 

216

Session: 

Poster session 2

Date: 

Monday 17 September 2018 - 12:30 to 14:00

All authors in correct order:

Braun C1, Bossmann T2
1 Hochschule 21, Buxtehude, Germany
2 Richard Pflaum Verlag, München, Germany
Presenting author and contact person

Presenting author:

Cordula Braun

Contact person:

Cordula Braun
Abstract text
Background:
The importance of using current trusted evidence to inform clinical practice is undisputed. However, health care providers face various barriers to this task, including lack of time; lack of skills to efficiently identify, critically appraise and understand published research; and limited access to reliable information sources, including in their native language. These barriers hamper evidence-based practice and can thus negatively affect the quality of health care.

Objectives:
The German 'Cochrane for Physiotherapy!' resources were developed by physiotherapists for physiotherapists (and others interested in physiotherapy) to facilitate the use of current trusted evidence to inform clinical practice within the German-speaking population.

Methods:
Two key resources will be presented:

1) The monthly 'Cochrane Update' in the journal pt_Zeitschrift für Physiotherapeuten (circulation 22,000), which provides an overview of all newly published Cochrane Reviews with relevance to physiotherapy practice (in Germany) and German translations of plain language summaries of selected reviews.
2) The 'Cochrane for Physiotherapy Database' (http://bit.ly/2GCsPwh), which includes all Cochrane Reviews with relevance to physiotherapy practice (in Germany) that have been published since autumn 2012.

Results:
Both resources tackle the above stated key barriers to the use of evidence by providing user-friendly and freely accessible overviews of current trusted (Cochrane) evidence with German translations of plain language summaries.

Conclusion:
The 'Cochrane for Physiotherapy!' resources were designed to facilitate the use of current trusted evidence to promote evidence-based decision-making primarily by physiotherapists in the German-speaking population. Their impact on the use of evidence in practice has not yet been formally evaluated. Nonetheless, we hope to inspire other groups to develop similar resources for other areas of healthcare.

Patient and healthcare consumer involvement:
The presented resources were developed without patient involvement. However, their design and their focus on the provision of translations of plain language summaries make them suitable not only for health professionals, but also for use in shared decision-making with patients, and for use by patients themselves.

Relevance to patients and consumers: 

Initiatives aimed at facilitating the use of trusted evidence to inform clinical decision-making promote evidence-based healthcare and are thereby highly relevant not only to healthcare professionals, but also to patients and other healthcare consumers. The "Cochrane for Physiotherapy!" resources were primarily developed for physiotherapists, by physiotherapists, without patient involvement. However, their design and their focus on the provision of translations of plain language summaries make them suitable not only for health professionals, but also for them to use in shared decision making with patients, and for use by patients themselves.