Involvement in COVID-19 rapid evidence synthesis: Training & supporting willing, enthusiastic patient/public partners

Note: You can listen back to this excellent seminar here.

How Canadians quickly mobilized to meaningfully involve patients, caregivers, and members of the public in the COVID-19 response to the unprecedented demand for rapid evidence synthesis in an evolving, uncertain environment.

The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance was committed to including the perspectives of patients and members of the public in prioritizing topics, identifying outcomes that were important to them, interpreting the findings to make them relevant, and accessing the results in plain language, recognizing that they are the end-users of the guidelines and policies that often result from rapid reviews. The webinar will include the researcher who championed the course, the patient partner co-designers, and a participant.

Andrea C. Tricco is a Scientist and Director of the Knowledge Synthesis Team in the Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health & Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. Maureen Smith is the chair of Cochrane’s Consumer Network Executive and is involved in several global Cochrane projects and advisory committees. Janet Gunderson is a Cochrane consumer and a patient partner with the SPOR Evidence Alliance and a member of the Patient Partnership committee. Amanda Doherty-Kirby is a stay-at-home parent to six young people (ages 8-21) with various diagnoses that have made navigating the medical and educational systems both frustrating and fascinating. She completed a Family Engagement in Research course in Fall 2020 and joined the SPOR Evidence Alliance and COVID-END in Spring 2021.