Consumer support and education beyond national borders: phase 3

Article type
Authors
Walsh M1, Vanderheyden A1, Rader T2, Pardo Pardo J2
1Cochrane Upper Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Diseases Group, Canada
2Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group/Canadian Cochrane Centre, Canada
Abstract
Background:
When diagnosed, consumers sometimes turn to patient organizations for support; however, the quality of treatment-related information is variable. Phase 3 of this project illustrates how consumers with Cochrane have enabled the dissemination of Cochrane Summaries for gastroenterology-related conditions to consumers and compares results with phases 1 and 2 that involved the dissemination of The Cochrane Library within English-speaking arthritis-related patient organizations for conditions under the remit of the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group.

Objectives:
To disseminate Cochrane Summaries to English-speaking gastroenterology-related patient organizations worldwide.

Methods:
An internet search was performed to locate English-speaking gastroenterology-related not-for-profit national and international organizations representing conditions within the remit of the four gastroenterology-related Cochrane groups (Upper Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Diseases, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Functional Bowel Disorders, Hepato-Biliary and Colorectal Cancer). These organizations were provided with an article about Cochrane and Cochrane Summaries and asked to promote both via newsletter/Facebook/Twitter.

Results:
In total, 64 organizations were located and contacted. Twenty-five confirmed receipt of the article. Of those, six (five national within the USA, UK, Canada and Australia and one international) agreed to promote Cochrane Summaries in some way.

Conclusions:
Consumers can effectively disseminate Cochrane Reviews by promoting The Cochrane Library and Cochrane Summaries through patient organizations. The three phases of this project resulted in 21 arthritis and gastroenterology-related organizations agreeing to promote Cochrane Reviews or Plain language summaries in some way, thereby, potentially reaching thousands of consumers previously unaware of The Cochrane Library. This presentation will illustrate editor perceptions of Cochrane Summaries/The Cochrane Library and attempt to explain differences in responses between groups, benefits and limitations of this system and how it might translate to other Cochrane groups.