MAXIMIZING THE IMPACT OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
Maximizing the impact of systematic reviews in health care decision making: a systematic scoping review of knowledge-translation resources
Background
Through our work for the NIHR CLAHRC for Leeds, York and Bradford we have been developing a bespoke knowledge translation service aimed at local NHS commissioners and decision makers in provider Trusts. The service involves working closely with local stakeholders, helping them translate existing evidence to inform the real decisions they face.
To inform the development and maximize the impact of this service, we have performed a systematic scoping review of knowledge-translation resources that are aimed at health care policymakers at the national or local level.Findings
Twenty knowledge-translation resources were identified, of which eleven were classified as summaries, six as overviews, and three as policy briefs. Resources added value to systematic reviews by, for example, evaluating their methodological quality or assessing the reliability of their conclusions or their generalisability to particular settings. The literature search found four published evaluation studies of knowledge-translation resources, and the screening of abstracts and contact with authors found three more unpublished studies. The majority of studies reported on the perceived usefulness of the service, although there were some examples of review-based resources being used to assist actual decision making.Conclusions
Systematic review producers provide a variety of resources to help policymakers, of which focused summaries are the most common. The extent to which these resources are used and are found useful by policymakers is unclear. More evaluations of these resources are required to ensure that users’ needs are being met, to demonstrate their impact, and to justify their funding.
Conducted by: Duncan Chambers1, Paul Wilson11, Carl Thompson2, Andria Handbury2, Kate Farley2, Kate Light11. Centre for Reviews and Dissemination; 2. Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Further details
NIHR CLAHRC for Leeds, York and BradfordPublications
Chambers D, Wilson P, Thompson C, Hanbury A, Farley K, Light K. Maximizing the impact of systematic reviews in health care decision making: a systematic scoping review of knowledge-translation resources. Milbank Quarterly 2011; 89(1): 131-156Funding
Conducted as part of the TRiP-LaB project funded by the NIHR as part of the NIHR CLAHRC for Leeds, York and Bradford