Want to better understand how the health and social systems work and how you can better advocate for changes that would improve these systems for you and your family? Enhance your knowledge with one of our free courses for citizens:
Finding and using research evidence: A guide for citizens
In this free online course, you’ll be provided with solutions to overcome the most commonly cited frustrations people have when trying to access research evidence. Prepared by the McMaster Health Forum with support from the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit, the course is now available online as a set of eight videos:
Here are helpful resources that are drawn on in the course:
- Definitions for word and phrases used in the modules
- How to make sure health information is trustworthy
- Links to online sources mentioned in the modules
Don’t miss the most important resource for citizen-targeted evidence about healthy aging:
Understanding how to navigate the health system
Knowing how your health system works will better you to navigate the system, identify opportunities to make things better, and advocate for changes that you’d like to see. This free online course describes the 'building blocks' of Ontario’s health system as well as how those building blocks are used to provide care in the province in different ways (e.g., by sector, condition, treatment, population). While Ontario is the example, these principles are useful to understanding health systems other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally.
Prepared by the McMaster Health Forum with support from the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit, the course is now available online as a set of six videos:
Here are helpful resources that are drawn on in the course:
- Free download of chapters from Ontario’s Health System: Key Insights for Engaged Citizens, Professional and Policymakers. The Ontario book is also helpful in understanding other health systems
Don’t miss the most important resource for citizen-targeted evidence about healthy aging:
Masterclass on patient-oriented research
The Forum’s masterclass was designed to prepare future champions for the conduct and use of patient-oriented research and future mentors to others becoming involved in the conduct and use of patient-oriented research. While we are not currently planning any sessions for the masterclass on patient-oriented research, you can access all of the course material to learn more about patient-oriented research.
New features launched in Health Systems Evidence and Social Systems Evidence
To support government policymakers, system and organizational leaders and other stakeholders who want to quickly find the best-available global evidence on pressing health- and social-system topics, we’ve recently introduced two new improvements to the search functionality in Health Systems Evidence and Social Systems Evidence.
The first improvement is the ‘search best syntheses only’ button under the open search bar, which enables users to narrow their search results to include only those evidence syntheses deemed ‘best’ for a particular taxonomy topic by our editors. To be eligible for 'best,' an evidence synthesis must meet two key criteria: 1) a moderate-to-high AMSTAR score (e.g., four or higher); and 2) a literature search conducted within the last five years. To be selected as ‘best,’ the following six factors are considered by our editors: 1) AMSTAR score; 2) recency of search; 3) ‘living’ status; 4) availability of a GRADE evidence profile; 5) directness of the relationship to the taxonomy category; and 6) absence of study-inclusion limits (e.g., studies from a single country). Please keep in mind during the ‘beta’ phase for this function that our HSE and SSE editors have not yet assessed all evidence syntheses contained in the two databases, so some filters may yield no results for ‘best.’
The second improvement is the introduction of ‘living’ as an advanced search filter under ‘document features’ in both databases. This filter will enable users to narrow their search results to include only evidence syntheses that are ‘living,’ meaning the authors of the synthesis have indicated in their methods a plan to regularly update the synthesis to reflect shifting health- and social-system contexts and to ensure any new single studies published on the topic are included in the analysis and captured in the results (which is particularly important for topics where the evidence base is evolving rapidly).
Both Health Systems Evidence and Social Systems Evidence continue to undergo extensive enhancements, including adding new features that will improve users’ experience and offer more powerful search capacity to help them find the best available evidence. Stay tuned for future updates, and bear with us as we continue to make changes to the sites.
- McMaster Forum
