Articles: professional-practice.
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Review Meta Analysis
The effectiveness of self-directed learning in health professions education: a systematic review.
Given the continuous advances in the biomedical sciences, health care professionals need to develop the skills necessary for life-long learning. Self-directed learning (SDL) is suggested as the methodology of choice in this context. The purpose of this systematic review is to determine the effectiveness of SDL in improving learning outcomes in health professionals. ⋯ Moderate quality evidence suggests that SDL in health professions education is associated with moderate improvement in the knowledge domain compared with traditional teaching methods and may be as effective in the skills and attitudes domains.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2010
Review Meta AnalysisInterventions to change the behaviour of health professionals and the organisation of care to promote weight reduction in overweight and obese people.
The prevalence of obesity is increasing globally and will, if left unchecked, have major implications for both population health and costs to health services. ⋯ Most of the included trials had methodological or reporting weaknesses and were heterogeneous in terms of participants, interventions, outcomes, and settings, so we cannot draw any firm conclusions about the effectiveness of the interventions. All of the evaluated interventions would need further investigation before it was possible to recommend them as effective strategies.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2010
Review Meta AnalysisTailored interventions to overcome identified barriers to change: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes.
In the previous version of this review, the effectiveness of interventions tailored to barriers to change was found to be uncertain. ⋯ Interventions tailored to prospectively identified barriers are more likely to improve professional practice than no intervention or dissemination of guidelines. However, the methods used to identify barriers and tailor interventions to address them need further development. Research is required to determine the effectiveness of tailored interventions in comparison with other interventions.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisInterventions to improve question formulation in professional practice and self-directed learning.
Formulating questions is fundamental to the daily life of a healthcare worker and is a defining characteristic of professional competence and meaningful learning. With high expectations for healthcare providers to remain up-to-date with current evidence and the movement towards formalizing reflective practice as part of physician revalidation, it is important that curricula developed for improving the ability to formulate well-constructed questions are based on the best evidence. ⋯ Evidence from our review suggests that interventions to increase the quality of questions formulated in practice produce mixed results at both short- (immediately following intervention), and moderate-term follow up (up to nine months), comparatively. Although three studies reported effectiveness estimates of an educational intervention for increasing the quality of question formulation within the short term, only one study examined the effectiveness in the longer term (one year) and revealed that search skills had eroded over time. Data suggests that sustainability of effects from educational interventions for question formulation are unknown.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisClinical pathways: effects on professional practice, patient outcomes, length of stay and hospital costs.
Clinical pathways are structured multidisciplinary care plans used by health services to detail essential steps in the care of patients with a specific clinical problem. They aim to link evidence to practice and optimise clinical outcomes whilst maximising clinical efficiency. ⋯ Clinical pathways are associated with reduced in-hospital complications and improved documentation without negatively impacting on length of stay and hospital costs.