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How the CAHE Journal Club works

 

CAHE has designed the CAHE Allied Health Journal Clubs to provide a sustainable model unique to South Australia, based on a rigorous assessment of literature on successful national and international journal clubs. This model was developed in consultation with DoHSA and other stakeholders in allied health care to ensure it caters to stakeholders requirements, and reflects the optimal use of allied health care practitioners time and resources.

An intrinsic process of identifying pilot sites was the identification and subsequent training of an embedded allied health care practitioner in each site. Each pilot site identified an allied health care practitioner, who would champion this initiative locally. These practitioners were invited to CAHE premises and were provided with training on the integral aspects of journal clubs specifically, and evidence based practice generally. These local champions were called facilitators. This was an integral step in the journal club formation, ensuring that knowledge and skills in conducting journal clubs was disseminated to a local allied health practitioner. This has implications for the future as it ensures durability and sustainability of the journal club due to local ownership of the initiative. The role of the facilitator is a fixed one within each health service. As this initiative expands, it is anticipated that more facilitators will be trained.

The CAHE JC is designed to evolve into an autonomous journal club over a period of time, with CAHE maintaining the position of mentor and advisor as they evolve, and also in the future should further advice and guidance be required.

Each JC has a Presenter and a Facilitator. The role of the presenter is to work in close association with the facilitator in preparing for the journal club. While the facilitator is responsible for organising and chairing the journal club, the presenter is responsible for introducing the research publication and promoting discussion about the research publication. The role of the presenter is a rotating position to ensure that all staff in each health service are provided with the opportunity to be taught about the pragmatics of the journal club. The Facilitator position is an ongoing position, responsible for running and chairing each club.

The CAHE Journal Club processes

  1. The CAHE Journal Club involves a series of processes that ensure the JC is able to ultimately self-manage. The key processes underpinning the journal club are listed as:
  2. A clinical question, or a scenario, that has been identified health care practitioners is emailed to CAHE
  3. Members of CAHE working party access, search and retrieve the most recent, high level, high quality research publication suitable for the topic of interest
  4. Members of CAHE working party critically appraise the publication to ensure its methodological rigour
  5. The publication, along with its methodological quality appraisal, is sent to each journal club (usually the facilitator)
  6. Prior to the journal club meeting, the facilitator and the presenter discuss the publication, its methodological quality appraisal and its implications for practice
  7. If any issues arise, the facilitator contacts CAHE for further clarification. CAHE and the facilitator will communicate to ensure any outstanding issues for clarification are addresses prior to the journal club meeting
  8. On the day of the journal club meeting, the presenter will introduce the publication to the journal club members
  9. Both facilitator and presenter will co-lead discussion on the publication, its methodological quality, its implications for clinical practice and implementation
  10. Upon completion of the journal club, CAHE and the facilitator liaise to ensure any outstanding issues arising from the journal club meeting are addresses and its implication for ongoing journal club meetings are noted

CAHE will develop and update a compendium of critically appraised research publications as a resource for health services interested in implementing journal clubs within their health services.

How are the topics of the JC determined?

The Journal Club develops a clinical scenario amongst clinicians and from this an appropriate question to be addressed in the PICO or PACO format is formulated. The PICO/PACO format has universal application and use:

P   Population of interest
I    Intervention
C  Comparison
O  Outcomes

P   Population of interest
A  Assessment
C  Comparison
O  Outcomes

Dr Saravana Kumar has recently held a number of workshops detailing PICO/PACO formulation and journal club establishment and management.  His PowerPoint presentations and MP3 of the workshop are available here:

PowerPoint Slideshow: Introduction to CAHE Journal Clubs (1309KB)

PowerPoint Slideshow: PICO Formulation (2288KB)

Workshop MP3: PICO Formulation (2998KB)

 

To view a list of articles that informed sustainable journal club development view Useful Journal Club References (PDF 234KB).

 

 

 

If you are unable to open the PDF links please visit http://www.adobe.com/ to download ADOBE.


 

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