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Patient participation plays a vital role in evidence‐based practice (EBP), yet its development in clinical nursing is slow. Current research has focused on identifying barriers to patient participation in everyday care, with less research on barriers to patient participation in EBP. Therefore, a questionnaire containing basic information and open‐ended questions was used to explore nursing staff attitudes and barriers to patient participation in EBP. Responses to the open‐ended question were analyzed with content analysis. Four roles of patient participation, positive and negative attitudes toward patient participation, and 134 barriers to patient participation in EBP were extracted from 121 nursing staff responses through content analysis. Five categories of barriers were extracted from the 134 barriers to patient participation, including patient, cost‐effectiveness of EBP, healthcare staff, organization, and resource. This study found that patients' acceptance and trust in EBP also influenced their participation in the practices. Moreover, nursing staff have little knowledge of engaging patients in EBP. More educational strategies and organizational support should be provided to patients and nurses to promote patient participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A validated generic impact questionnaire can demonstrate how individual and groups of health libraries contribute to continuing education and patient care outcomes. Objectives: To validate an existing generic questionnaire for Knowledge for Healthcare, England by examining: (1) internal reliability; (2) content validity; and (3) suggest revisions. Methods: Methods used included Cronbach's alpha test, simple data mining of patterns among a data set of 187 questionnaire responses and checking respondents' interpretation of questions. Results: Cronbach's alpha was 0.776 (acceptable internal reliability). The patterns of responses indicated that respondents' interpretations of the questions were highly plausible, and consistent. The meaning of 'research' varied among different occupational groups, but overall, respondents could identify relevant personal and service impacts. However, users were confused about the terms that libraries use to describe some services. Discussion The analysis indicated that the questionnaire worked well for the two types of personal services (literature/evidence searches and training/e‐learning) frequently cited on the responses. Further research may be required for library assessment of the impact of other services such as digital resource services. Conclusions: The generic questionnaire is a reliable way of assessing the impact of health library and knowledge services, both individually and collectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing older population with advanced chronic kidney disease (ACKD stages 4–5) poses a challenge for healthcare worldwide. The high prevalence of frailty and associated adverse health outcomes highlights concerns for management and interventions specific to this population. The aim was to objectively review the evidence relating to older people (≥65 years) living with frailty and ACKD. More specifically how frailty is identified, what interventions have been studied and what outcomes have been reported including outcomes important to patients, families and carers. A scoping review was undertaken following the PRISMA-Scr guidelines. Nine databases were searched and a review team of five people followed a process using defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were then analysed to answer the specific questions of the review. The World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health was used to map outcomes across the domains. A total of 90 studies were included. The most reported frailty measure was the frailty phenotype. The most reported outcomes were mortality, hospitalisation and healthcare utilisation. Health-related quality of life was the most common patient-reported outcome measure. There were few intervention studies and limited evidence of patient and carer perspectives. This scoping review highlights important areas for further research in older people living with frailty and ACKD. This includes a 'gold standard' measure for identifying frailty, interventions and improvements in outcome measures that matter to patients (including studies that focus on carers and carer burden) and priority setting for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the impact of the UK Clinical Librarian (CL) workforce and benchmark the results against a study undertaken in the North West region of the English National Health Service (NHS). Methods: An online survey was distributed by CLs to their service users regarding literature searches that had been carried out on their behalf in the 6 months from April to October 2017. Interviews were later carried out in person with selected respondents to the questionnaires. Results: CLs across the UK contribute to a wide range of outcomes, with 41% of search requests contributing to the choice of intervention, and 41% also to the advice offered by the clinician requester to a patient or their carer. These results are in line with the previous work undertaken in the North West. Discussion: CLs provide diverse services to clinical teams. They support the continuing professional development and personal research needs of team members, service development needs of organisations, and the information provided contributes to improved quality and safety of patient care. Conclusion: The survey confirms the findings of the earlier NW study. It demonstrates the impact of services based around literature searching on patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To systematically identify and describe studies that have evaluated the impact of gardens and gardening on health and well-being. A secondary objective was to use this evidence to build evidence-based logic models to guide health strategy decision making about gardens and gardening as a non-medical, social prescription. Design Scoping review of the impact of gardens and gardening on health and well-being. Gardens include private spaces and those open to the public or part of hospitals, care homes, hospices or third sector organisations. Data sources A range of biomedical and health management journals was searched including Medline, CINAHL, Psychinfo, Web of Knowledge, ASSIA, Cochrane, Joanna Briggs, Greenfile, Environment Complete and a number of indicative websites were searched to locate context-specific data and grey literature. We searched from 1990 to November 2019. Eligibility criteria We included research studies (including systematic reviews) that assessed the effect, value or impact of any garden that met the gardening definition. Data extraction and synthesis Three reviewers jointly screened 50 records by titles and abstracts to ensure calibration. Each record title was screened independently by 2 out of 3 members of the project team and each abstract was screened by 1 member of a team of 3. Random checks on abstract and full-text screening were conducted by a fourth member of the team and any discrepancies were resolved through double-checking and discussion. Results From the 8896 papers located, a total of 77* studies was included. Over 35 validated health, well-being and functional biometric outcome measures were reported. Interventions ranged from viewing gardens, taking part in gardening or undertaking therapeutic activities. The findings demonstrated links between gardens and improved mental well-being, increased physical activity and a reduction in social isolation enabling the development of 2 logic models. Conclusions Gardens and gardening can improve the health and well-being for people with a range of health and social needs. The benefits of gardens and gardening could be used as a ‘social prescription’ globally, for people with long-term conditions (LTCs). Our logic models provide an evidence-based illustration that can guide health strategy decision making about the referral of people with LTCs to socially prescribed, non-medical interventions involving gardens and gardening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine whether the shared care model during the follow-up of cancer survivors is effective in terms of patient-reported outcomes, clinical outcomes, and continuity of care. Methods: Using systematic review methods, studies were searched from six electronic databases-MEDLINE (n = 474), British Nursing Index (n = 320), CINAHL (n = 437), Cochrane Library (n = 370), HMIC (n = 77), and Social Care Online (n = 210). The review considered all health-related outcomes that evaluated the effectiveness of shared care for cancer survivors. Results: Eight randomised controlled trials and three descriptive papers were identified. The results showed the likelihood of similar effectiveness between shared care and usual care in terms of quality of life, mental health outcomes, unmet needs, and clinical outcomes in cancer survivorship. The reviewed studies indicated that shared care overall is highly acceptable to cancer survivors and primary care practitioners, and shared care might be cheaper than usual care. Conclusions: The results from this review suggest that the patient satisfaction of shared care is higher than usual care, and the effectiveness of shared care is similar to usual care in cancer survivorship. Interventions that formally involve primary care and improve the communication between primary care and hospital care could support the PCPs in the follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Health libraries contribute to many activities of a health care organisation. Impact assessment needs to capture that range of contributions. Objectives: To develop and pilot a generic impact questionnaire that: (1) could be used routinely across all English NHS libraries; (2) built on previous impact surveys; and (3) was reliable and robust. Methods: This collaborative project involved: (1) literature search; (2) analysis of current best practice and baseline survey of use of current tools and requirements; (3) drafting and piloting the questionnaire; and (4) analysis of the results, revision and plans for roll out. Findings: The framework selected was the International Standard Methods And Procedures For Assessing The Impact Of Libraries (ISO 16439). The baseline survey (n = 136 library managers) showed that existing tools were not used, and impact assessment was variable. The generic questionnaire developed used a Critical Incident Technique. Analysis of the findings (n = 214 health staff and students), plus comparisons with previous impact studies indicated that the questionnaire should capture the impact for all types of health libraries. Conclusions: The collaborative project successfully piloted a generic impact questionnaire that, subject to further validation, should apply to many types of health library and information services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the UK, only one in four people with a diagnosis of depression receive any form of treatment. To address this, the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme was established with the main therapeutic approach being cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This raised concern regarding client choice, prompting the development of a new evidence‐based manualised therapy, namely ‘Counselling for Depression’ [CfD]. To date, the client's view of the effectiveness of CfD has not been researched. Aims: The aims of this study were twofold: (1) to explore and evaluate CfD from the perspective of the client and (2) to inform the counselling profession of the client's perception of what is occurring within this therapeutic approach. Methodology: This qualitative study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the ideographic aspect valuing each individual narrative and the contribution it makes towards a larger account of the phenomenon from a small group of people. Twelve participants receiving CfD completed a Helpful Aspects of Therapy questionnaire after each counselling session, with ten participating in a semi‐structured interview post counselling. Findings: Four superordinate themes were identified: A helpful process, Client's view of a counsellor, Gains and Negative aspects. Participants perceived this model of therapy as helpful, feeling understood by their counsellors and able to work through issues in a safe therapeutic relationship. Negative findings related to counselling being ‘hard work’ and a dislike of the time limitation that curtailed the work. Implications: Participants believed this type of counselling met their needs, reassuring practitioners that CfD is helpful to their clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the author discusses the evolution of evidence based practices, particularly the evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP), as of January 2016. She cites her own experiences as example, particularly her project to examine the feasibility of using an evidence based approach to social care in 1993. She claims that the approach has many similarities with evidence base in library and information science (LIS) and the challenges of EBLIP.

The article presents a study which investigates the impact of research evidence summaries published in the journal "Evidence Based Library and Information Practice" on library and information practice.

Patients with lung cancer experience significant symptom burden, particularly symptoms of a respiratory nature. Such symptom burden can be distressing for patients and negatively impact their functional status and quality of life. The aim of this review is to evaluate studies of nonpharmacological and noninvasive interventions for the management of respiratory symptoms experienced by patients with lung cancer. In total, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review and included 1383 participants of which 1296 were lung cancer patients. The most frequently assessed and reported symptom was breathlessness (n = 9 studies). Cough and haemoptysis were reported in one study. A variety of outcome measurement tools were used and a broad range of intervention strategies evaluated. Lack of consistency between studies impinged on the ability to combine studies. It is not possible to draw any firm conclusion as to the effectiveness of nonpharmacological interventions for the management of respiratory symptoms in lung cancer. Nonpharmacological interventions may well have an important role to play in the management of some of the respiratory symptoms (or combinations of respiratory symptoms), but more work of higher quality is necessary in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores the use of systematic reviews for library and information practitioners when making decisions about their practice. It relates the benefits of being involved in the production of systematic for information professionals. It outlines the ways by which systematic reviews can help library and information professionals, including help in making sense of research base, help in implementing and justifying services, as well as ensuring that individual practitioners do not have to collect and analyse primary studies for every decision made. It discusses several papers which examined librarians' involvement in systematic reviews.

Primary objective: To undertake a systematic review which aimed to locate, appraise and synthesise evidence to obtain a reliable overview of the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and user perspectives regarding counselling in primary care. Main results: Evidence from 26 studies was presented as a narrative synthesis and demonstrated that counselling is effective in the short term, is as effective as CBT with typical heterogeneous primary care populations and more effective than routine primary care for the treatment of non-specific generic psychological problems, anxiety and depression. Counselling may reduce levels of referrals to psychiatric services, but does not appear to reduce medication, the number of GP consultations or overall costs. Patients are highly satisfied with the counselling they have received in primary care and prefer counselling to medication for depression. Conclusions and implications for future research: This review demonstrates the value of counselling as a valid choice for primary care patients and as a broadly effective therapeutic intervention for a wide range of generic psychological conditions presenting in the primary care setting. More rigorous clinical and cost-effectiveness trials are needed together with surveys of more typical users of primary care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the 4th International Evidence Based Library and Practice (EBLIP) Conference. The conference consisted of different presentations and keynote speakers. The use of evidence based library and information practice for a wide range of themes such as management, user needs, building the evidence base, decision making, and special libraries, were discussed at the event.

This paper reports on a systematic review aimed at providing a reliable overview of the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of counselling older people. Papers were located from a wide range of sources to ensure comprehensive coverage of the literature and 47 papers were included in the final review. The review concluded that counselling is efficacious with older people, particularly in the treatment of anxiety, depression and in improving subjective well‐being. Evidence indicates that individual, as opposed to group counselling, is the psychological treatment of choice among the community‐dwelling elderly and that this may be the more effective modality with this population. Group counselling for nursing home residents and home‐based individual counselling for community‐dwelling older people are both feasible modes of service delivery. A pro‐active approach to the identification of psychological problems among residential and community‐dwelling older people is necessary to ensure problems are not left untreated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the process in the development of the ReLIANT instrument for library practitioners in Great Britain. The instrument comprises four substantive sections: study design, educational context, results and relevance. The authors believe that the use of RELIANT checklist will serve to increase awareness among practitioners of the critical factors involved when evaluating the published research of others.

In 2003 the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) commissioned a systematic review of the research evidence relating to counselling older people. This paper reports on some of the findings of this review, particularly those which address the effectiveness of counselling with this population. Electronic searches of the research literature spanned six databases and were supplemented by hand-searches of reference lists and key journals, along with an extensive search of the “grey” literature. The location of papers testing interventions which fall within a definition of counselling set out by the BACP, with samples aged 50 years of age or above resulted in the inclusion of 47 relevant studies. Studies investigated a variety of mental health problems in older people, particularly depression, anxiety, dementia and the psychological impact of physical conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Of the 47 studies, eight tested counselling as a generic treatment, 15 tested cognitive behavioural therapy, 13 tested reminiscence therapy, and 11 tested various other specific approaches. The review concluded that counselling is efficacious with older people, particularly in the treatment of anxiety and depression and outcomes are consistent with those found in younger populations. Evidence as to the efficacy of counselling interventions in the treatment of dementia is weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The objectives of this study were to undertake a systematic review to determine the effectiveness of information skills training, to identify effective methods of training and to determine whether information skills training affects patient care. A systematic review, using an iterative approach to searching, was employed. Studies selected for inclusion in the review were critically appraised using a tool used in previous reviews. A tabular approach was used to provide a summary of each paper allowing synthesis of results. One thousand, three hundred and fifty-seven potentially relevant papers were located. On the basis of titles and abstracts, 41 potentially relevant studies were identified for potential inclusion. Further reading and application of the inclusion criteria left 24 studies for critical appraisal and inclusion in the review. Study designs included randomised controlled trials, cohort designs and qualitative studies. The majority of studies took place in US medical schools. Wide variations were found in course content and training methods. Eight studies used objective methods to test skills, two compared training methods and two examined the effects on patient care. There was limited evidence to show that training improves skills, insufficient evidence to determine the most effective methods of training and limited evidence to show that training improves patient care. Further research is needed in a number of areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The objectives of this study were to undertake a systematic review to determine the effectiveness of information skills training, to identify effective methods of training and to determine whether information skills training affects patient care. A systematic review, using an iterative approach to searching, was employed. Studies selected for inclusion in the review were critically appraised using a tool used in previous reviews. A tabular approach was used to provide a summary of each paper allowing synthesis of results. One thousand, three hundred and fifty-seven potentially relevant papers were located. On the basis of titles and abstracts, 41 potentially relevant studies were identified for potential inclusion. Further reading and application of the inclusion criteria left 24 studies for critical appraisal and inclusion in the review. Study designs included randomised controlled trials, cohort designs and qualitative studies. The majority of studies took place in US medical schools. Wide variations were found in course content and training methods. Eight studies used objective methods to test skills, two compared training methods and two examined the effects on patient care. There was limited evidence to show that training improves skills, insufficient evidence to determine the most effective methods of training and limited evidence to show that training improves patient care. Further research is needed in a number of areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the successful achievement of evidence-based practice, clinicians, managers and purchasers need evidence on whether a particular intervention works and ways to judge the appropriateness of the outcome criteria and measures used. Guidance is needed on what outcome measure to use, especially within routine clinical care settings. Beginning with a reclarification of the difference between a health status and an outcome measure, the paper presents an evaluative checklist for use by clinical audit and research staff to review outcome measures for use in routine care settings. Central features include the user-centredness of the measure, its psychometric properties, feasibility of use and utility. The applicability of the checklist is illustrated for outcome measurement in diabetes and stroke care. A modified form of the checklist is proposed for use by the busy clinician as an aid to the critical review of research papers within the context of evidence-based practice and to aid health care practitioners' choice of which outcome measure(s) to use within routine clinical care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an update on the journal "Evidence Based Library and Information Practice." As of September 2013, the journal has continued to grow and develop with the help of the editorial team members. The journal is indexed in LISA, LISTA, Google Scholar and Scopus and the acceptance rate is 67%.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the guest editors discuss evidence-based library and ethical principles.

The author reflects on two trips to Edinburgh, Scotland and how they relate to methods of generating evidence. During a trip for the LIS (Library and Information Science) DREaM (Developing Research Excellence and Methods) project, the author was exposed to workshops demonstrating the value of social network analysis, horizon scanning, and ethnography as research methods. Her trip to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Conference focused on counselling research.

In this article the editor of the journal discusses the past and future missions of the publication and overviews her goals for the journal during her tenure. She notes the additions of editors Wayne Jones and Heather Pretty to the journal's staff, discusses her personal experience with evidence based library and information practice, and thanks previous editor Denise Koufogiannakis for her contributions.

Health librarians play a key role in the evidence based practice (EBP) movement by providing services and support to find, access, interpret and disseminate evidence. Health librarians also pioneered the concept of evidence based practice within the library profession evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP) and has developed a strong evidence base for their work. This presentation explores the concept of EBLIP within the health library profession and the dual role they play in supporting and undertaking EBP. A range of studies that demonstrate the effectiveness and impact of the services provided by health librarians are summarised to provide an overview of the evidence of the health library profession. The presentation concludes by putting forward the view that being evidence based is an approach that involves: questioning practice, gathering or creating the evidence, using evidence wisely and using professional skills to help others make evidence based decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to this issue of "Evidence Based Library and Information Practice" is presented.

The article discusses the crisis in evidence based medicine (EBM) and its implication on evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP). Topics discussed include some of the problems with EBM, proposed solutions to the EBM crisis of interest to librarians and actions proposed to address the problems in EBM that are relevant to EBLIP including a demand for better evidence and training that combines critical appraisal with judgement.