Cochrane People, Health Systems and Public Health

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About us

The People, Health Systems and Public Health Thematic Group conducts and supports evidence syntheses that address the complex issues that face health systems and public health around the world, by taking a person-centred approach.

Systematic reviews conducted and supported by the group aim to strengthen equitable and effective health care for all. Systematic reviews, such as the following selected examples, provide evidence for:

Improving health within populations

  • Collaboration between local health and local government agencies for health improvement (read the updated review)
  • Interventions to reduce ambient particulate matter air pollution and their effect on health (read the review)
  • Slum upgrading strategies and their effects on health and social outcomes (read the reviewand one page summaryor listen to the podcast)
  • Strategies for enhancing the implementation of school-based policies or practices targeting diet, physical activity, obesity, tobacco or alcohol use (read the updated review)
  • Strategies to improve the implementation of healthy eating, physical activity and obesity prevention policies or programmes within childcare services (read the updated review)
  • Strategies to improve the implementation of workplace-based policies or practices targeting tobacco, alcohol, diet, physical activity and obesity (read the review)

People centred care

  • Consumers’ and health providers’ views and perceptions of partnering to improve health services design, delivery and evaluation: a co‐produced qualitative evidence synthesis (read the review, a one-page summary, the clinical summaryor listen to the podcast)
  • Communication to promote and support physical distancing for COVID‐19 prevention and control (read the review, a one-page summary, or listen to the podcast
  • Interventions for improving health literacy in migrants (read the reviewor a one-page summary)
  • Decision aids for people facing health treatment of screening decisions (read the reviewor a one-page summary)
  • Interventions for enhancing medication adherence (read the reviewor one-page summary)
  • Personalised care planning for people with chronic conditions (read the reviewor one-page summary, or listen to the podcast)
  • Interventions to increase patient and family involvement in escalation of care for acute life‐threatening illness in community health and hospital settings (read the reviewor one-page summary)
  • Interventions for improving medical students' interpersonal communication in medical consultations (read the r eviewor one-page summary)
  • Interventions for improving medication‐taking ability and adherence in older adults prescribed multiple medications (read the reviewor one-page summary, or listen to the podcast)

Re-design of health services

  • Interventions to improve the appropriate use of polypharmacy for older people (read the review, a one-page summary, or listen to the podcast)
  • Lay health workers in primary and community health care for maternal and child health: identification and treatment of wasting in children (read the reviewor one page summary)
  • Quality improvement strategies for diabetes (read the reviewor a one page summary)
  • Experiences of conditional and unconditional cash transfers intended for improving health outcomes and health service use: a qualitative evidence synthesis (read the reviewor a one page summary)
  • Admission avoidance hospital at home (read the updated review, a one-page summary, or listen to the podcast)
  • Factors influencing the implementation of early discharge hospital at home and admission avoidance hospital at home: a qualitative evidence synthesis (read the review, a one-pagesummary,or listen to thepodcast)

Ongoing systematic reviews include:

Health improvements within populations

  • Health policymakers’ views and experiences of knowledge translation approaches to facilitate evidence‐informed decision‐making: a qualitative evidence synthesis (read the protocol)
  • Interventions implemented through sporting organisations for promoting healthy behaviour or improving health outcomes. This review will replace the review 'Policy interventions implemented through sporting organisations for promoting healthy behaviour change' - see below (read the protocol)
  • Knowledge translation strategies for facilitating evidence-informed decision-making amongst health policymakers (read the amended protocol)

Re-design of health services

  • Adults' views and experiences of vaccines developed in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic: a qualitative evidence synthesis (read the protocol)

The Thematic Group brings together expertise from Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care, Cochrane Consumers & Communication, and Cochrane Public Health, groups that have collaborated for many years.

The creation of this Thematic Group enables us to pool and build on our individual areas of expertise in new collaborative ways. A key focus of the Thematic Group will be to support the systematic uptake and integration of evidence-based interventions into health and public health systems to improve their impacts for individuals and communities globally.

We will draw on a range of disciplines encompassed by the partnering groups including person-centred care, health services research, behavioural and implementation sciences, stakeholder engagement and participatory methods, qualitative research, and quality improvement. This broad focus requires cross-disciplinary expertise as system-level changes to promote better health and health care are influenced by multi-level factors including those related to consumers and providers, organizations, communities and policy and social environments.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight the interconnectedness between health and public health systems and personal, social and environmental contexts. The Thematic Group will facilitate engagement with this cross-cutting agenda.

Team

Simon Lewin Simon Lewin – Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Rebecca Ryan Rebecca Ryan – La Trobe University Australia
Sasha Shepperd Sasha Shepperd – University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Luke Wolfenden Luke Wolfenden – University of Newcastle, Australia

Our Plans

To collaborate in providing leadership and expertise to support Cochrane’s production of priority syntheses on person-centred care, health and public health systems, and to work towards systems for health that are more effective, equitable and accessible for all.

Further specific objectives within the first 18 months are to:

  1. Develop and sustain a collaborative partnership to provide strategic leadership on evidence synthesis priorities and to provide content expertise within the scope of person-centred care, and health and public health systems.
  2. Engage with key stakeholders to identify future priority areas for syntheses and to disseminate Cochrane evidence and methods developed by the Group.
  3. Contribute to knowledge translation (KT) and evidence-informed decision making for person centred care, health and public health systems.
  4. Share and strengthen capacity within the Group on key and emerging synthesis and KT methods, including for reviews of effects and of qualitative evidence.
  5. Share and strengthen capacity with partners in the Global South
  6. Improve and share resources to support evidence synthesis in complex areas.

News

Contact us

cochranepublichealth@newcastle.edu.au

How can I sign up to this group to receive updates?

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You will receive a quarterly newsletter from us highlighting activities, events and opportunities from the Cochrane People, Health Systems and Public Health Thematic Group. You will also receive invitations to attend upcoming webinars, seminars and training activities.