The latest evidence and resources for allied health professionals and clinical support staff. You can either scroll through this page or click on any of the links below to jump to the relevant section.
Please note, unlike the rest of our blogs, our ‘Evidence for Allied Health: new evidence and resources’ blogs will not be updated.
- COVID-19
- Analgesic drugs for acute soft tissue injury
- Asthma
- Healthcare worker safety and wellbeing
- Myocardial infarction
- Organisation and delivery of care
- Pelvic floor muscle training
- Respiratory health
- Rotator cuff repair
- Stroke
- Coming up…
COVID-19
Cochrane is producing reviews and resources for the COVID-19 pandemic. We have blogged about many of them and this blog Cochrane evidence on COVID-19: a round-up brings together a large collection of evidence and resources, starting from when this evidence was first being produced in spring 2020. Like the reviews themselves, all our blogs are updated to reflect new evidence.
You may be interested in our blog Personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers: new Cochrane evidence which discusses the evidence from two Cochrane Reviews and some innovative ideas.
Could antimicrobial mouthwashes and nasal sprays offer protection to healthcare workers, and also patients? Three Cochrane Reviews looked for evidence on this and were published in September 2020. It is disappointing that no completed studies were found, but there are studies underway and these will be considered for future updates of the reviews.
Cochrane Special Collections
Cochrane Special Collections assemble Cochrane Reviews on important topics for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. They are developed with experts from our global Cochrane network. They are based on World Health Organization interim guidance, and continuously updated.
You can find Coronavirus (COVID-19) Special Collections here.
Cochrane Clinical Answers
Cochrane Clinical Answers (CCAs) provide a readable, digestible, clinically-focused entry point to rigorous research from Cochrane Reviews. They are designed to be actionable and to inform point-of-care decision-making. Each CCA contains a clinical question, a short answer, and data for the outcomes from the Cochrane Review deemed most relevant to practising healthcare professionals. The evidence is displayed in a user-friendly tabulated format that includes narratives, data, and links to graphics.
You can find Cochrane Clinical Answers related to COVID-19 here.
Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER (Rehabilitation – COVID-19 Evidence-based Response) action
To update the rehabilitation community on the growing evidence for the role of rehabilitation in management of COVID-19 patients, Cochrane Rehabilitation launched the REH-COVER (Rehabilitation – Covid-19 Evidence-based Response) action.
Analgesic drugs for acute soft tissue injury
Cochrane Review summary: Oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs compared with other oral pain killers for sprains, strains and bruises
Asthma
Cochrane Clinical Answer: What are the effects of breathing exercises for adults with asthma?
Healthcare worker safety and wellbeing
Please see the above section on COVID-19 for evidence on PPE and support for wellbeing in the healthcare workforce.
Minimising workplace aggression
Featured Review: Education and training for preventing and minimizing workplace aggression directed toward healthcare workers.
Fostering resilience
Cochrane Clinical Answer: For healthcare professionals, do psychological interventions help foster resilience?
Myocardial infarction
Cochrane Clinical Answer: What are the effects of early mobilization (median 6 days) for people with acute uncomplicated myocardial infarction (MI)?
Organisation and delivery of care
Patient-initiated appointments
Cochrane Podcast: Patient-initiated appointments for people with chronic conditions managed in hospital outpatient settings.
mHealth-based technologies
mHealth‐based technology aims to provide healthcare and health education via mobile and wireless technologies.
Primary healthcare services
Cochrane Podcast: Health workers’ perceptions and experiences of using mHealth technologies to deliver primary healthcare services: a qualitative evidence synthesis.
mHealth-delivered education for people with heart failure
Cochrane Clinical Answer: For people with heart failure, what are the effects of mHealth‐delivered education?
Pelvic floor muscle training
Preventing urinary incontinence
A Cochrane Clinical Answer: In pregnant women, does antenatal pelvic floor muscle training help to prevent urinary incontinence?
Respiratory health
Chest radiographs for people with acute lower respiratory tract infections
Cochrane Clinical Answer: What are the benefits and harms of chest radiographs for people with acute lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI)?
COPD
Cochrane Clinical Answers:
Pre-operative inspiratory muscle training
Cochrane Clinical Answer: In adults undergoing cardiac and major abdominal surgery, does preoperative inspiratory muscle training help to prevent postoperative pulmonary complications?
Sleep apnea
Cochrane Clinical Answer: How do behavioral interventions compare with usual care for promoting continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device usage in adults with obstructive sleep apnea?
Cochrane Clinical Answer: How do mixed interventions (educational, supportive, behavioral) compare with usual care for promoting continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device usage in adults with obstructive sleep apnea?
Cochrane Clinical Answer: How do supportive interventions compare with usual care for promoting continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device usage in adults with obstructive sleep apnea?
Cochrane Clinical Answer: How do educational interventions compare with usual care for promoting continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device usage in adults with obstructive sleep apnea?
Ventilation
Cochrane Clinical Answer: For people with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring mechanical ventilation, how do conservative and liberal oxygen targets compare?
Cochrane Clinical Answer: What is the accuracy of airway physical examination tests for detection of difficult face mask ventilation in adults?
Cochrane Podcast: Bedside examination tests to detect beforehand adults who are likely to be difficult to intubate
Rotator cuff repair
Cochrane Clinical Answer: How does rotator cuff repair with or without subacromial decompression compare with non‐operative treatment for adults with rotator cuff tears?
Stroke
Cochrane Review: Mental practice for treating upper extremity deficits in individuals with hemiparesis after stroke
We have a blog on Living and dying well after stroke in which Scott Murray and Marilyn Kendall talk about the rich evidence from their in-depth interviews, which could guide provision of person-centred care after major stroke and support people in living and dying well. Many people have left comments below the blog, sharing their own experiences, and both the blog and the comments have valuable insights. Several stroke survivors have written or contributed to other Evidently Cochrane blogs. All our blogs on stroke are here.
Coming up…
The first World Evidence Based Healthcare Day will take place on 20 October 2020. This is an initiative launched by Cochrane and six other leaders in the field, to create awareness of the need for better evidence to inform healthcare policy, practice and decision making in order to improve health outcomes globally.
You can find information and resources on the World Evidence Based Healthcare Day website and look out for content on social media #WorldEBHCDay #EvidencetoImpact.
The next collection of evidence will be published here in January 2021. We may have new blogs and blogshots on individual reviews meanwhile. You can find all blogs relevant to allied health here and blogshots here.
Join in the conversation on Twitter with @CochraneUK or leave a comment on the blog. Please note, we will not publish comments that link to commercial sites or appear to endorse commercial products. We welcome diverse views and encourage discussion but ask that comments are respectful and reserve the right to not publish comments we consider offensive.
Unable to open “Analgesic drugs for soft tissue injury.” Would be really keen to read this. Rotator cuff topic was very interesting.
Hi Peter, I’m glad you’ve found something of interest here! It’s perhaps not very apparent but ‘Analgesic drugs for soft tissue injury’ is just a heading in the blog, rather than a link to something Sorry if that’s confusing. We wanted to find a way of readers getting quickly to parts of the blog that might interest them, so the only thing there is review on NSAIDs vs other oral painkillers for sprains, strains and bruises – which hopefully you can open.
Best wishes,
Sarah Chapman [Editor]