'EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION-MAKING - BEYOND THE BASICS' 
3 day workshop - Wednesday 3rd - Friday 5th December 2003

Organised by the Centre for Evidence-Based Child Health in collaboration with the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine


Evidence-based decision making explicitly acknowledges the evidence that contributes to each patient management decision, the strength of that evidence, the benefits and risks of alternative management strategies, and the role of patients' values and preferences in trading off those benefits and risks. In order to weigh the costs and consequences of tests, interventions, or information, clinicians and policy makers need to interpret the added value of diagnostic tests, the harm associated with certain exposures, the prognosis of disease in a specific patient, and the effectiveness of an intervention. As the trade off between risks and benefits are often finely balanced, patients with differing values and preference will make different choices.Theme 
Synthesising evidence for decision-making

Who should attend?
The workshop is intended for practitioners in health or social care who have a working knowledge of the principles of evidence-based practice. It is particularly relevant for practitioners with responsibility for guiding practice within their area, especially those engaged in writing guidelines or care pathways. We expect that participants will feel confident about appraising a single study. 

Aims of the workshop
To help participants advance their critical appraisal skills, to develop participants' skills in incorporating values and preferences in decision- making, and to raise awareness of approaches to synthesising evidence. 

Workshop content
Defining and prioritising information needs:  Common sense approaches for framing the decisions and different questions that need to be answered when managing a particular patient problem. This will include an introduction to methods for summarising information about multiple decision options and outcomes (eg: decision analysis, use of clinical balance sheets). 

Applying evidence to individual patients:  To trade off the benefits and harms of therapy or diagnosis for a particular patient, practitioners need to integrate evidence from different types of studies (eg. on treatment efficacy or test accuracy, and baseline risk), with information on the patients values and preferences. We will also discuss issues relevant to the interpretation of meta-analyses and whether the treatment effect varies between studies and patient groups.  

Synthesising evidence for a pathway of management:  We will discuss the use of decision analysis and economic analyses to determine optimal decisions when there are multiple options and outcomes. 

Workshop format
The course will involve a mix of interactive plenary sessions, facilitated small group sessions, and a self-directed team project on evidence synthesis. Small group sessions will be based on clinical scenarios from across the spectrum of health and social care focussing on reviews or other studies in the area of interventions, test accuracy, and prognosis. Excellent facilities are available for electronic searching with tutor support. 

Tutors
Ruth Gilbert, Director, Centre for Evidence-based Child Health, London
Stuart Logan, Professor of Health and Social Care, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter
Paul Glasziou, Director, Centre for Evidence-based Medicine and Visiting Professor of Primary Care, Oxford
Amanda Burls, Director of the West Midlands HTA Collaboration, Senior Lecturer in Public Health 
Jill Ellis, Lecturer in Evidence-based Community Child Health, Institute of Child Health 
Search tutors:   John Clarke, Librarian, Institute of Child Health and Melissa Harden, Administrator, Centre for Evidence-Based Child Health

Cost:           £500 (including catering, course materials, and book on evidence-based practice) 

Venue:         Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH       

Contact:        For an application form, please contact Melissa Harden on 020 7905 2606 or [log in to unmask]           


Melissa Harden
Administrator
Centre for Evidence-Based Child Health
Institute of Child Health
University College London Medical School
30 Guilford Street
London
WC1N 1EH

Tel: 020 7905 2606
Fax: 020 7813 8233