Supporting workforce and service developments in Integrated care through a Critically Appraised Topic Methodology: A Keele University Exemplar.

Background: Across England, Keele University’s Evidence into Practice Groups have successfully utilised the Community of Practice approach and Critically Appraised Topic (CAT) methodology to implement evidence-based health and care interventions tailored to local population needs. These boundary spanning groups bring together patients, academic and clinical communities to explore real-world questions of clinical uncertainty and critically appraise research evidence to inform best practice.

Over 200 clinical dilemmas have been investigated resulting in valuable impacts including clinical pathway changes, audits, quality improvement projects and three Randomised Controlled Trials being developed after gaps in research were highlighted. This workshop introduces the approach and highlights how it fosters inclusive and evidence-informed impact across the health and care systems. It also explores questions of interest from the attendees and proposes next steps for further work beyond the workshop to support ongoing service developments.

AudienceThis session is designed for clinicians, researchers, commissioners, patients, librarians and community leaders seeking engaging and practical strategies to implement evidence-informed care. It will also be of interest to those involved in service design, research, workforce development and community engagement.

Approach: This interactive workshop will be of 90 minutes duration with over 50% of time dedicated to discussion and group work. Suggested programme outline:

1.Welcome and Overview - Introduction to attendees and to workshop aims, Evidence into Practice group, CAT methodology – KS (0-10 mins)

2.CAT examples - Real world examples of CATs and their impact – THB (10-25 mins)

3.Interactive breakout groups - Participants co-produce a CAT question for their own setting - KS, THB, All (25-45 mins)

4.Group feedback and discussion - Sharing CAT questions developed, challenges, opportunities across groups for future working - KS, THB, All (45-65 mins)

5.Stakeholder reflections, CAT group development and disseminating CAT findings - Reflections on the process from attendees, patients, service users and presenters. How to create your own CAT group and disseminate CAT findings to influence care delivery, service developments and research and commissioning agendas - KS, THB, MB All (65-80 mins)

6.Summary and session ‘take aways’ - Summary of key insights, tools and pledges for next steps - KS, THB, All (80-90 mins)

Outcomes: By the end of the session attendees will

• Understand the purpose, value and impact of Evidence into Practice groups
• Learn how to develop and apply Critically Appraised Topics to questions of uncertainty
• Explore strategies for engaging multidisciplinary teams and relevant stakeholders in creating Evidence into Practice groups
• Identify methods for disseminating evidence to influence care delivery and policy