Rapid Reviewing Methodologies for Evidence-Informed Decision-Making

About the session

Policy professionals often need and request evidence to plan, develop, and implement policies. Now more than ever, policy professionals need reliable and high quality evidence, as the COVID-19 situation is moving at an extraordinary pace and the need for evidence is evolving.

Systematic reviews are increasingly used to inform policy decisions and produce guidance for health systems, yet the production of systematic reviews is often protracted and misaligned with decision timelines. Rapid reviews are a type of knowledge synthesis in which the steps of a systematic review are streamlined or accelerated to produce evidence in a shortened timeframe and cost-effective manner.

The 1.5 hour session will consist of a lecture covering:

1. The need for rapid reviews to inform policy
2. Performing rapid reviews
3. Engaging policymakers and health systems managers
4. Reporting and disseminating rapid review findings

This will be followed by a hands-on exercise where participants will have the opportunity to work in small groups to develop their own rapid review protocol.

We will also be joined by Cochrane review authors involved with the production of rapid reviews commissioned by the World Health Organization for COVID-19 for a Q&A.

About the presenter

Audrey Tan is a research methodologist and Cochrane review author. Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers, and people interested in health. Cochrane contributors work together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest.

She previously conducted systematic reviews for the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence and coordinated Cochrane's Circulation and Breathing Network. She is currently an author on two Cochrane systematic reviews and has previously published a Cochrane network meta analysis.