Developing and evaluating communication strategies to support informed decisions and practice based on evidence (DECIDE): Protocol and preliminary results

Shaun Treweek*, Andrew D. Oxman, Philip Alderson, Patrick M. Bossuyt, Linn Brandt, Jan Brozek, Marina Davoli, Signe Flottorp, Robin Harbour, Suzanne Hill, Alessandro Liberati, Helena Liira, Holger J. Schünemann, Sarah Rosenbaum, Judith Thornton, Per Olav Vandvik, Pablo Alonso-Coello

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    157 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: Healthcare decision makers face challenges when using guidelines, including understanding the quality of the evidence or the values and preferences upon which recommendations are made, which are often not clear.Methods: GRADE is a systematic approach towards assessing the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations in healthcare. GRADE also gives advice on how to go from evidence to decisions. It has been developed to address the weaknesses of other grading systems and is now widely used internationally. The Developing and Evaluating Communication Strategies to Support Informed Decisions and Practice Based on Evidence (DECIDE) consortium (http://www.decide-collaboration.eu/), which includes members of the GRADE Working Group and other partners, will explore methods to ensure effective communication of evidence-based recommendations targeted at key stakeholders: healthcare professionals, policymakers, and managers, as well as patients and the general public. Surveys and interviews with guideline producers and other stakeholders will explore how presentation of the evidence could be improved to better meet their information needs. We will collect further stakeholder input from advisory groups, via consultations and user testing; this will be done across a wide range of healthcare systems in Europe, North America, and other countries. Targeted communication strategies will be developed, evaluated in randomized trials, refined, and assessed during the development of real guidelines.Discussion: Results of the DECIDE project will improve the communication of evidence-based healthcare recommendations. Building on the work of the GRADE Working Group, DECIDE will develop and evaluate methods that address communication needs of guideline users. The project will produce strategies for communicating recommendations that have been rigorously evaluated in diverse settings, and it will support the transfer of research into practice in healthcare systems globally.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number6
    JournalImplementation Science
    Volume8
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 9 Jan 2013

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Developing and evaluating communication strategies to support informed decisions and practice based on evidence (DECIDE): Protocol and preliminary results'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this