Abstract
Objective:An innovative funding scheme for health care librarians to attend an intensive short course in teaching evidence-based practice was established in the West of England in 2016. This evaluation aims to understand the value of the scheme and the impact of the training opportunity for the librarians, establish an evidence base for continuing with the funding scheme, and inform the development of plans to build additional capacity among health care librarians to provide critical appraisal training.Methods:Seven librarians working in health care system settings were funded by the scheme between 2016 and 2018. Post-course feedback forms gathered initial views on course content and delivery, which informed the development of questions for the qualitative phase of the evaluation. All seven librarians participated in group discussions and individual interviews.Results:The course boosted confidence, provided valuable new skills, and positively impacted careers of the librarians through access to new opportunities. It inspired the development of new approaches to critical appraisal training. An important need was identified among the librarians for more education in teaching. Librarians funded by the scheme have successfully cascaded the training to their colleagues.Conclusion:This evaluation supports the continuation of the funding scheme to further build capacity among health care librarians to teach evidence-based practice. It suggests additional investment in this type of specialist training, as well as in education in teaching skills, would be beneficial for health care librarians. Evidence from this evaluation is informing new plans to support these professionals with the vital service they provide, which contributes to the evidence-based culture of their organizations and to patient outcomes.
Highlights
The role of health care librarians in supporting evidencebased practice has long been acknowledged [1, 2]
The course boosted confidence, provided valuable new skills, and positively impacted careers of the librarians through access to new opportunities. It inspired the development of new approaches to critical appraisal training
This evaluation supports the continuation of the funding scheme to further build capacity among health care librarians to teach evidence-based practice
Summary
The role of health care librarians in supporting evidencebased practice has long been acknowledged [1, 2]. In addition to expertise in searching and locating evidence, this specialist role, based in health care system settings, demands skills in critical appraisal, including knowledge of health research methods, and a degree of competence in explaining such ideas to others [3]. As librarianship training is based on a generalist approach, neither of these are formally taught [4] This can leave a gap in skills and knowledge among health care librarians that presents a barrier to involvement in key parts of the role [5, 6], suggesting a need for more specialist training and support. A policy statement in 2016 renewed commitment to the development of NHS librarians to help mobilize research evidence in all levels of decision-making in health care to contribute to the drive for better health outcomes for patients [8]. A national campaign followed that sought to promote the use of evidence in decision-making, based on the notion that a million
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