PHVIT9550 Systematic reviews and metaanalyses Course description

Healthcare decisions for individual patients and for public health policies should be informed by the best available research evidence. The evidence comes from good reviews which is a state-of-the-art synthesis of current evidence on a given research question.Systematic reviews, meta-analyses and qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) play an important role in clinical guidelines, patient information, in clinical and political decision-making and in an evidence-based practice. A systematic review or qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) can also play an important role in a PhD Thesis by providing an overview of the thesis topic.

This course offers an overview of the use of systematic reviews, the method of systematic reviews, qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) and meta-analysis and how to critically appraise a systematic review or QES. The course will focus on systematic reviews of qualitative and quantitative studies. The course will be run as a six day course over a period of six months.

This course offers insights into recent trends in the relationship between users of and professionals in the health and care services. The course will focus on looking critically at perceptions of user involvement, empowerment, and coordination between health care professionals and users. In particular, the course will discuss different traditions in understanding goal definition and redistribution of power, relational knowledge, and the concept of coproduction in the context of public services. User involvement in research will also be a topic of discussion.

On completion of the course, the PhD candidate has achieved the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The PhD candidate:

• is at the forefront of knowledge in how to write a protocol of a systematic review or qualitative evidence synthesis
• understands the role of best evidence research in clinical and political decision-making

Skills

The PhD candidate can:

• plan and write a protocol of a systematic review or qualitative evidence synthesis
• formulate a focused research question
• plan a literature search
• conduct a systematic and explicit selection process of the available articles
• assess the methodological quality of included articles
• extract data from included studies and plan analyses
• critically assess a systematic review

General competence

The PhD candidate can:

• the principles of how to search for research literature
• the principles of how to run a meta-analysis or a synthesis of qualitative studies
• the principles of how to assess the quality of evidence by Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) or GRADE CERQual
• the principles of how to conduct a systematic review

On completion of the course, the PhD candidate has achieved the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The PhD candidate

• is a the forefront of knowledge of conceptual understanding and theories of user involvement and professional input
• can critically assess how different perspectives of user involvement and professional coordination can be applied in health science research

Skills

The PhD candidate can

• critically reflect on the knowledge base for user involvement and coordination
• articulate problems that address the complex relationships between individuals, service provision, and society in health science research
• design a plan for including users in research design

General competence

The PhD candidate can

• discuss user involvement and coordination as concepts and practices based on critical thinking of empowerment, goal-setting, and relationships between professionals and users
• communicate and discuss topics from research about user involvement and coordination in the field of the health sciences
• demonstrate how critical insight generated from studies of user involvement and coordination can be applied in innovation processes

Work and teaching methods consist of lectures, seminars, and self-study. The outcomes of the seminars are presented and discussed in plenary sessions.

None

Candidates must write an essay on user involvement and coordination, based on empirical data and a theory of their choice. The essay must consist of up to 5,000 words and must be submitted no more than 2 weeks after the end of the course.

All

Pass / Fail

One internal and one external examiner will assess the answer papers submitted by all candidates.