Disseminating Cochrane evidence to the public health workforce via author-led webinars

Title - Disseminating Cochrane evidence to the public health workforce via author-led webinars Background - Health Evidence™ is a free searchable repository, of 4,500+ quality-appraised public health relevant reviews, including nearly 700 Cochrane reviews. Author-led webinars is one knowledge translation strategy to disseminate the findings of Cochrane reviews. Objectives - (i) Disseminate the findings of Cochrane reviews via webinars - (ii) Evaluate the impact of Cochrane author-led webinars Methods - Webinars are 60-90 minutes in length and include: an overview of the principles of evidence-informed decision making (15mins), a presentation of the findings by the review author (30mins), and a Q&A period (30mins). Webconferencing software monitors participant registration, attendance, engagement, poll responses, and questions. Standard polling questions are asked throughout each session to assess familiarity with and use of systematic reviews, as well as familiarity and agreement with session-specific review findings. Results - Since January 2015 Health Evidence™ has hosted six Cochrane author-led webinars. Webinar participants include: nurses, health promoters, physicians, dietitians, and knowledge brokers. On average, participants in each session were attentive and engaged 68.8% of the time. Google Analytics reflect an average 572% increase in users accessing the Cochrane review featured in each webinar on the day of the session compared to average daily access the month prior. On average, each session attracted 177 registrants, of which approximately half joined on the session date. Poll response data reveal 59.6% attendees use systematic reviews to inform their practice. Data collected pre/post on participant’s knowledge of the effectiveness of an intervention, suggest that webinars are an effective way to influence participant’s knowledge about intervention effectiveness (participant knowledge improved 10-31.8%, measured via pre/post poll questions). During the Q&A period, attendees submitted 5-12 questions per session. Conclusion: Webinars are an interactive and effective mechanism for promoting public health relevant Cochrane evidence to decision makers. Data from webinars highlight a high level of interest and engagement with Cochrane author-led sessions.