Irish Media Coverage of COVID-19 Evidence-Based Research Reports From One National Agency

Sharp, Melissa K.; Forde, Z.; McGeown, C.; O’Murchu, Eamon; Smith, Susan M.; O’Neill, Michelle; Ryanb, Máirín; Clyne, Barbara

doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2021.169

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Organizations have experienced challenges navigating a highly mediatized environment where every production has the potential to be picked up by the media. A study recommends, among other things, that scientists and experts become more involved with journalists especially during a pandemic [ 45 ]. These authors note that given the proliferation of RRs, journalists may be less familiar with them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production and use of rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec (Canada): perspectives from evidence synthesis producers and decision makers

McSween-Cadieux,

Lane,

Hong

et al. 2024

Health Res Policy Sys

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has required evidence to be made available more rapidly than usual, in order to meet the needs of decision makers in a timely manner. These exceptional circumstances have caused significant challenges for organizations and teams responsible for evidence synthesis. They had to adapt to provide rapid responses to support decision-making. This study aimed to document (1) the challenges and adaptations made to produce rapid responses during the pandemic, (2) their perceived usefulness, reported use and factors influencing their use and (3) the methodological adaptations made to produce rapid responses. Methods A qualitative study was conducted in 2021 with eight organizations in the health and social services system in Quebec (Canada), including three institutes with a provincial mandate. Data collection included focus groups (n = 9 groups in 8 organizations with 64 participants), interviews with decision makers (n = 12), and a document analysis of COVID-19 rapid responses (n = 128). A thematic analysis of qualitative data (objectives 1 and 2) and a descriptive analysis of documents (objective 3) were conducted. Results The results highlight the teams and organizations’ agility to deal with the many challenges encountered during the pandemic (e.g., increased their workloads, adoption of new technological tools or work processes, improved collaboration, development of scientific monitoring, adaptation of evidence synthesis methodologies and products). The challenge of balancing rigor and speed was reported by teams and organizations. When available at the right time, rapid responses have been reported as a useful tool for informing or justifying decisions in a context of uncertainty. Several factors that may influence their use were identified (e.g., clearly identify needs, interactions with producers, perceived rigor and credibility, precise and feasible recommendations). Certain trends in the methodological approaches used to speed up the evidence synthesis process were identified. Conclusions This study documented rapid responses producers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, and decision makers who requested, consulted, or used these products. Potential areas of improvements are identified such as reinforce coordination, improve communication loops, clarify guidelines or methodological benchmarks, and enhance utility of rapid response products for decision makers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production and use of rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec (Canada): perspectives from evidence synthesis producers and decision makers

McSween-Cadieux,

Lane,

Hong

et al. 2024

Health Res Policy Sys

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“…2,3 When we believe unreliable claims, we might take ineffective or harmful actions, or fail to take helpful actions. The Covid-19 pandemic showed how easily unreliable claims [4][5][6] and research [7][8][9] spread, impacting public trust and protective behaviours. 10,11 Publicly debunking untrustworthy information has value, but the effectiveness of this retroactive strategy might be limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching critical thinking about health information and choices in secondary schools: human-centred design of digital resources

Rosenbaum,

Moberg,

Chesire

et al. 2024

F1000Res

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Background Learning to thinking critically about health information and choices can protect people from unnecessary suffering, harm, and resource waste. Earlier work revealed that children can learn these skills, but printing costs and curricula compatibility remain important barriers to school implementation. We aimed to develop a set of digital learning resources for students to think critically about health that were suitable for use in Kenyan, Rwandan, and Ugandan secondary schools. Methods We conducted work in two phases collaborating with teachers, students, schools, and national curriculum development offices using a human-centred design approach. First, we conducted context analyses and an overview of teaching strategies, prioritised content and collected examples. Next, we developed lessons and guidance iteratively, informed by data from user-testing, individual and group interviews, and school pilots. Results Final resources include online lesson plans, teachers’ guide, and extra resources, with lesson plans in two modes, for use in a classroom equipped with a blackboard/ﬂip-chart and a projector. The resources are accessible offline for use when electricity or Internet is lacking. Teachers preferred the projector mode, as it provided structure and a focal point for class attention. Feedback was largely positive, with teachers and students appreciating the learning and experiencing it as relevant. Four main challenges included time to teach lessons; incorrect comprehension; identifying suitable examples; and technical, logistical, and behavioural challenges with a student-computer mode that we piloted. We resolved challenges by simplifying and combining lessons; increasing opportunities for review and assessment; developing teacher training materials, creating a searchable set of examples; and deactivating the student-computer mode. Conclusion Using a human-centred design approach, we created digital resources for teaching secondary school students to think critically about health actions and for training teachers. Be smart about your health resources are open access and can be translated or adapted to other settings.

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“…While the strong uptake of vaccination clearly had an impact, evidence-based public health messaging (e.g., https://ihealthfacts.ie/) and clear messaging in the mainstream media likely also contributed to beneficial behaviour changes 21,22 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altmetric coverage of health research in Ireland 2017-2023: a protocol for a cross-sectional analysis

Sharp,

Logullo,

Murphy

et al. 2024

HRB Open Res

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Background Scientific publications have been growing exponentially, contributing to an oversaturated information environment. Quantifying a research output’s impact and reach can cannot be solely measured by traditional metrics like citation counts as these have a lag time and are largely focused on an academic audience. There is increasing recognition to consider ‘alternative metrics’ or altmetrics to measure more immediate and broader impacts of research. Better understanding of altmetrics can help researchers better navigate evolving information environments and changing appetites for different types of research. Objectives Our study aims to: 1) analyse the amount and medium of Altmetric coverage of health research produced by Irish organisations (2017 – 2023), identifying changes over time and 2) investigate differences in the amount of coverage between clinical areas (e.g., nutrition vs. neurology) and, where possible, by study types (e.g., clinical trials vs. evidence syntheses). Methods Using Altmetric institutional access, we will gather data on research outputs published 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2023 from active Irish organisations with Research Organisation Registry (ROR) IDs. Outputs will be deduplicated and stratified by their Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification relating to ≥1 field of health research: Biological Sciences, Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Health Sciences, and Psychology. We will clean data using R and perform descriptive analyses, establishing counts and frequencies of coverage by clinical area and medium (e.g., traditional news, X, etc.); data will be plotted on a quarterly and yearly basis. We will use topic modelling using latent Dirichlet allocation to explore prevalent topics over time. Results and Conclusions Improved understanding of one’s information environment can help researchers better navigate their local landscapes and identify pathways for more effective communication to the public. All R code will be made available open-source, allowing researchers to adapt it to evaluate their local landscapes.

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Irish Media Coverage of COVID-19 Evidence-Based Research Reports From One National Agency

Cited by 7 publications

References 63 publications

Production and use of rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec (Canada): perspectives from evidence synthesis producers and decision makers

Production and use of rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec (Canada): perspectives from evidence synthesis producers and decision makers

Teaching critical thinking about health information and choices in secondary schools: human-centred design of digital resources

Altmetric coverage of health research in Ireland 2017-2023: a protocol for a cross-sectional analysis

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