This web course has been created by the United States Cochrane Center as part of a project undertaken by Consumers United for Evidence-based Healthcare (CUE), and is designed to help consumer advocates understand the fundamentals of evidence-based healthcare concepts and skills. Registration is open and free of charge.
Course Objectives
Our goals in this course are to provide consumer advocates with the tools they need to:
- Successfully navigate the world of medical information,
- Critically appraise research studies,
- Influence the creation of responsible public policy in healthcare, and
- Help the people they serve to make healthcare choices based on the best available evidence.
Course Description
In these six modules, we will illustrate key concepts with compelling real-world examples, covering the following topics and issues. Run times do not take into account interruptions or a second review of selected slides.
- Module 1. INTRO: What is evidence-based healthcare and why is it important? (45 minutes)
- Module 2. ASK: The importance of research questions in evidence based healthcare. (40 minutes)
- Module 3. ALIGN: Research design, bias and levels of evidence. (1 hour)
- Module 4. ACQUIRE: Searching for healthcare information. Assessing harms and benefits. (1 hour 10 minutes)
- Module 5. APPRAISE: Behind the numbers: Understanding healthcare statistics. Science, speed and the search for best evidence. (1 hour 20 minutes)
- Module 6: APPLY: Critical appraisal and making better decisions for evidence-based healthcare, Determining causality. (1 hour)
Funding Support
- A conference grant (#R13 HS13368) from The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (K. Dickersin, Principal Investigator)
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
