Workshop type: Discussion.

Objective: To explore barriers to the use of Cochrane reviews in health policy and strategies for addressing them.

Summary:
This workshop will draw on examples from the Policy Liaison Initiative (PLI), a collaboration between the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) and the Australasian Cochrane Centre, which aims to help policy makers identify, interpret and use Cochrane reviews.

A group of staff from the DoHA were surveyed to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards evidence-based practice (EBP).  The survey asked respondents about their current use of research, including use of Cochrane systematic reviews.  Barriers to use of research evidence in their work were also assessed.  There was strong support for using evidence in health policy decision making among respondents.  However, they perceived that using evidence-based approaches would increa se workload and be time consuming. Other barriers related to awareness, availability, accessibility, and relevance of systematic reviews. 

Strategies used in the PLI were designed to address the identified barriers and demonstrate the potential of Cochrane reviews to reduce the time required to find and interpret primary research and hence make the use of research in policy making more efficient.

In this workshop interactive exercises and structured discussion will be used to explore barriers to the use of Cochrane reviews in health policy and strategies for addressing them, including:
• Models for collaboration between researchers and policy makers;
• Developing and disseminating policy relevant summaries of Cochrane reviews.

Intended audience: Policy makers and those with an interest in disseminating and implementing Cochrane reviews.

Technical level expected of participants: Basic.