Living Evidence uses continuous evidence surveillance and rapid response pathways to incorporate new, relevant evidence into clinical practice.
Practically, this means that living systematic reviews and living guidelines:
> Are underpinned by continual, active evidence surveillance and monitoring.
> Rapidly incorporate new, important evidence that is identified.
> Can communicate in near real-time the current status of the review or guideline, and any new evidence being incorporated into the recommendations.
Living Evidence aims to improve the quality, use and value of evidence synthesis activities by:
> Engaging large and diverse groups of stakeholders to be actively engaged in finding and appraising evidence.
> Broadening the range of research and health-related data that can be included, such as real-world data from clinical quality registries and individual patient-level data.
> Publishing recommendations in multi-layered digitals formats that can be integrated at the point of care.
> Using structured (semantic) data to improve the discoverability and re-use of research and health-related data.
ALEC uses a world-leading Living Evidence approach, which combines rigorous, evidence-based methods and rapid updating. This enables us to modify and update recommendations rapidly in response to the publication of new research evidence.
The guidelines use the GRADE methods and are designed to meet Australian NHMRC standards.
Relevant new questions to be addressed are continually sought from stakeholders and practitioners. For prioritised questions, the evidence is actively monitored and updated. An evidence team appraises and synthesises evidence and prepares evidence-to-decision frameworks to inform development of recommendations by multidisciplinary clinical panels.
A guideline development group oversees the development of recommendations by these expert panels and is advised by a lived experience panel. After initial agreement by the guideline development group, all recommendations require 100% consensus by member organisations.
Endorsed recommendations are published online and disseminated through traditional and social media channels.
Our National Clinical Evidence Taskforce was responsible for the successful development of living guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. We supported health professionals throughout the pandemic by providing up to date, highly valued guidance during a time of significant misinformation. Using the Living Evidence model, the Guidelines were able to be updated weekly and were based on daily evidence surveillance.
Modelling of the impact of the COVID-19 living guidelines suggests that they prevented at least 12,257 COVID-19 hospitalisations and 545 COVID-19 deaths.
The return on investment was $139.86, meaning an approximate $140 return for every $1 invested. Read the published paper here.
