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A New Resource for Teaching Evidence Based Health Care to University Students of-
| • Nursing |
| • Midwifery |
| • Physiotherapy |
| • Occupational Therapy |
| • Podiatry |
| • Radiography |
| • Dietetics |
The Joanna Briggs Institute is pleased to announce a new, on-line critical appraisal of evidence training program designed to assist universities to promote critical appraisal skills and research utilisation in health care practice.
RAPid is a single point of entry resource that teaches students to critically appraise evidence using established data collection tools and offers them the possibility of publishing this appraisal in the form of a refereed report, in the RAPid Library. Developed specifically for students of medicine, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, medical radiation, dietetics and other health sciences, RAPid is based on the CATmaker program developed by the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine in Oxford, UK, by Douglas Badenenoch, David Sackett and Sharon Straus. Like CATmaker, RAPid is designed to organise, conduct and archive an evidence summary of a single study of an intervention or professional activity or of specific findings of a completed systematic review. Unlike CATmaker, RAPid is designed to include processes to appraise and summarise evidence from a wide range of sources including the results of quantitative and qualitative studies, expert opinion published by respected bodies and reports that draw on consensus.
RAPid is designed to assist individual practitioners and undergraduate and postgraduate students to acquire the skills of posing relevant questions about the feasibility, appropriateness, meaningfulness or effectiveness of an intervention or professional activity and to pursue this question through applying the following basic steps of the comprehensive systematic review process:
- topic identification and rigorous question development
- searching for the evidence
- critically appraising the evidence
- summarising the evidence; and
- reporting the results of this process in an accessible format to maximise knowledge transfer to practice.
Using RAPid in teaching
The skills and knowledge development achievable through use of the RAPid software is of particular relevance to lecturers in courses where knowledge of research methods and critical appraisal is considered a professional requirement. New graduates, those seeking professional recognition for postgraduate studies in a specific field, and providers of continuing education will also find this program of use. RAPid facilitates centralised activity with a core focus on search and research skills, which are now considered fundamental to professional practice in health care.
The RAPid Program
RAP Maker
RAP maker is the software component of RAPid where the type of paper (systematic review, or single study) is selected. Once the type of paper is chosen, RAPpas are prompted to choose the type of study or review the selected paper represents, and are then expected to use the program to appraise the paper, critiquing the study type, its methods, findings and applicability. Each aspect of appraisal and data entry is conducted in real time in RAP maker. RAP maker facilitates study type recognition, data extraction and the construction of a final report, which may then be submitted on-line to the RAPid library for independent critique, then uploading for world wide access.
The RAPid Library
The RAP library (an internet database) is a readily available resource, accessible 24 hours a day via the internet. The library promotes the transfer of knowledge, increases the pool of resources available to health care professionals and students and is frequently updated with new RAP sheets. Each RAP sheet has a limited life span, and students can access sheets with a view to update, or create a new RAP to supplement existing resources. The benefits of the RAP library are that university lecturers and facilitators of continuing education in health services can readily identify areas of practice not currently covered by the library. Students can then be directed to either address gaps, conduct updates or contribute on a similar topic using a different study design; thus facilitating a coordinated approach to education. RAP sheets are only loaded in the library after undergoing external appraisal via the Institute and the criteria used in the appraisal process can be made available to lecturers, thus facilitating the marking process and promoting the quality of each RAP sheet. The RAP library is fully indexed and has advanced search features, including, date, key words, subject headings, and by sentence string. For students, publication of a RAP in the library represents a refereed publication and thus, acceptance for publication may motivate them to become active in the publication of their work as to experience the benefits of disseminating knowledge.
Integrating RAPid into Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teaching
Students within the health sciences are expected to acquire knowledge of research and of critical appraisal and to develop the skills required to access resources that inform their practice at the undergraduate, postgraduate or higher degreev level. RAPid is a flexible program that can be used at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level and lecturers are able to specify what study types and the degree of analysis they expect from their students. The final report each student generates follows a consistent format for its study type, and the information is readily viewed and appraised by lecturers via the RAP library. Uploading a RAP sheet only occurs after the students work has been externally appraised for quality, and relevance by trained JBI appraisers, thus giving lecturers an independent opinion on the RAP sheet, and giving students high quality feedback on their work.
Accessing RAPid
RAPid can be accessed via the Joanna Briggs Institute website (www.joannabriggs.edu.au). Multiple concurrent user access is standardised, and all that is required to create a RAP sheet is that the university or college where the student is enrolled holds current educational membership of the Institute. Membership with the Institute entitles users to access both the RAPid software for developing a RAP sheet, and the internet database of existing RAP sheets. Access to the database is open to the public so that effectively, RAPid is an ever expanding internet resource for students and clinicians, promoting knowledge transfer across professions and around the world, 24 hours a day.
Educational Institution JBI Membership
Universities, Colleges and other educational institutions may subscribe to the Institute and this provides them with a range of services related to evidence based practice.