Cochrane First Aid: using partnerships to reach practitioners and laypeople

Launched in 2019 and hosted by the Centre for Evidence-Based Practice (CEBaP) of the Belgian Red Cross, Cochrane First Aid (CFA) aims to be a global, independent network of people who advocate for the development, dissemination and uptake of high-quality research evidence on first aid. At CFA, we want to remove barriers to the use of evidence for anyone who has an interest in first aid, and be the go-to resource for high-quality, first aid–related systematic reviews. In addition, we link the major evidence-synthesising organisation Cochrane to the major players in first aid practice.
 

Our target audience consists of first aid guideline developers and first aid trainers, but also of laypeople providing/receiving first aid. Here, we share the story of two synergistic partnerships that have helped us get our messages across to these audiences.

The global first aid reference centre: making trainers and resource developers aware of the evidence
The Global First Aid Reference Centre (GFARC) is a reference centre comprising the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and is hosted by the French Red Cross. They work closely with 192 national societies to facilitate knowledge sharing between them and to promote high-quality first aid education globally. With their 2020 evidence-based International First Aid, Resuscitation, and Education guidelines, GFARC also encourages harmonisation of first aid practices.

GFARC is a collaborating centre of CFA and it assists in facilitating close contact with first aid practitioners all over the world. So far, GFARC has helped CFA:

• integrate first aid–related Cochrane reviews into the 2020 evidence-based guidelines, which are actively promoted to 192 national societies worldwide;
• gain visibility with first aid trainers, resource developers and professionals linked to resuscitation and first aid all over the world by:
  • regularly referring to us in their newsletter and on their social media; in this way, they also helped us increase the number of volunteers who assist us in spreading the findings of first aid–related Cochrane reviews in 11 different languages;
  • inviting us to host a workshop at the Secours Expo 2022 exhibition that brought together all types of emergency professionals and trades in Paris, France;
  • inviting us to speak during their live webinar during Resuscitation 2022, the congress of the European Resuscitation Council, about the importance of context-specific first aid guidelines and teaching materials in sub-Saharan Africa.
• reach first aid trainers and resource developers to get input into our priority exercise, so we could determine which topics it would be appropriate for, relevant to and necessary to develop Cochrane systematic reviews;
• develop accurate and trustworthy French translations.

Workshop 'Cochrane: the link between science and practice' at Secours Expo Exhibition 2022;

French blogshot on the effectiveness of masks to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses

CONSUMER MAGAZINE “TESTAANKOOP GEZOND”:
MAKING SURE LAYPEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO TRUSTWORTHY HEALTH INFORMATION
"Testaankoop" is a Belgian non-profit organisation that promotes consumer protection. The Health and Food team (Testaankoop gezond) consists of independent nutritional and health experts who act at different levels to improve the consumer's purchasing power, but above all their ‘power of well-being’. They publish their research in a magazine that has some 245,000 subscribers in the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking parts of Belgium.
 

In this partnership, we are both pursuing the same goal: to provide reliable, up-to-date health information. CFA provides the already synthesised, reliable scientific evidence to the Health and Food team and is able to guarantee the trustworthiness of their publications. In return, we are able to reach more of the general public through their magazine and online channels. Also, the journalists encourage us to share our information using short, to-the-point messages, simple (but not simplistic) language and visually appealing formats.

 Publication on first aid methods for pain relief during and after giving birth in Testaankoop gezond (August 2022) [In Dutch]

LESSONS LEARNED
Although we were not able to quantify the impact of these two partnerships, we are convinced that it has been useful to all partners involved. The partnership enables GFARC to demonstrate their commitment to evidence-based first aid. The partnership with Testaankoop gezond saves the Health and Food team the time and effort it takes to search for trustworthy literature. Both partnerships enable us to reach more of our stakeholders, and force us to think about how we should tailor our communication to their needs.

KEY MESSAGES
1.    Look for partners that share common goals. In our case: to provide reliable up-to-date evidence on first aid.
2.    Having partners with different backgrounds can be enriching.

Additional resources

• https://firstaid.cochrane.org/
• https://www.globalfirstaidcentre.org/
• https://www.test-aankoop.be/gezond [In Dutch]
• https://www.cebap.org/

Disclaimer
The views expressed in this World EBHC Day Blog, as well as any errors or omissions, are the sole responsibility of the author and do not represent the views of the World EBHC Day Steering Committee, Official Partners or Sponsors; nor does it imply endorsement by the aforementioned parties.