Study title
Spread of a structured Journal Club format into clinical services using WE-TREAT (“Web-based Expert system” for “Tailoring Research Evidence And Theory”) : A knowledge translation approach
What is the study about?
- The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing WE-TREAT, a web-based expert system (via the www.treatjournalclubs.com website) for spreading structured TREAT Journal Clubs to health professionals to promote evidence-based practice.
- The TREAT Journal Club format was developed in 2015 to enhance conventional journal club formats in the healthcare setting. Previous studies (linked here ) have shown improvements to clinician’s evidence-based practice skills and confidence using this format and potential improvements in evidence-uptake in patient care.
- This project will explore how we can now spread this journal club format more widely using a web-based system and evaluate its effects.
Who is carrying out the study?
The research is being conducted by Dr Rachel Wenke from Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Australia, in collaboration with researchers from Bond University and Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.
What does the study involve?
As part of this project you were invited to participate in up to ten journal clubs that were held monthly over a 10-month period within your workplace. The journal clubs aimed to be implemented using resources from the WE-TREAT website.
To evaluate your participation in the journal club format and the usefulness of the website, you will be asked to complete three short questionnaires:
- The EBP Practice Questionnaire (EBPQ):
This questionnaire will ask you to rate your current confidence, frequency of use and attitudes towards Evidence Based Practice, and will be completed before and after your participation in the journal club format. - Impact on clinical practice Questionnaire:
This multiple-choice questionnaire with option for freeform response will ask you to rate the influence of the journal club on your clinical practice and will be completed after 10 months - Satisfaction Questionnaire:
This rates your agreement on a series of statements regarding your Journal Club participation and experience with the WE-TREAT website on a 5-point Likert scale, and option for freeform response - Attendance:
You will also be asked to report how many JCs were planned and attended across the 10-month period.
Once the evaluation questionnaire has been completed, some participants will also be invited via email to take part in an optional a short interview over Zoom to further discuss clinical impact, user experience and satisfaction and plans for sustaining the journal club.
How much time will the study take?
The questionnaires will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and will be completed after you take part in the journal club format within your workplace. The optional Zoom interview will take approximately 30minutes.
Confidentiality:
Responses to this questionnaire that may be include identifiable information will be stored in a secure server, only accessible by the researcher team. If you provided your email address, you may be contacted to participate in an optional follow up interview however will not shared with anyone outside the research team.
Your data collected from the questionnaires will only be reported in aggregated means in a de-identified manner with the research team for the purposes of data analyses. Data will be presented in a de-identified and not in any way be linked to your identity.
Benefits:
As a participant you will have the opportunity to:
- Reflect on your current evidence-based practice knowledge and attitudes.
- Receive numerous online resources to help with facilitation of your local journal clubs.
- Contribute towards the refinement of a journal club format which has potential to improve evidence-based practice in healthcare.
Ethics:
This project has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Gold Coast Health Hospital and Health Service (HREC/2021/QGC/72968) and will be carried out in accordance with the The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (updated 2018). If you would like to speak to an officer not involved in the study, please contact the Human Research Ethics Committee Coordinator on +6175687 3879. [email protected]
Contacting the investigators:
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Dr Rachel Wenke by emailing [email protected]