This Cochrane Group is no longer active

Due to changes in NIHR funding in evidence synthesis, this Cochrane Group is no longer active. We are so grateful for the work of our contributors.

If you would like to get involved with Cochrane, please visit our Join Cochrane pages.

To learn more about Cochrane, visit our homepage.

If you would like to propose a topic for a Cochrane Review, please see our instructions for authors.

If you have any queries, please contact Cochrane Support.

Our priority topics - Australian satellite

Priority topics - Australian satellite

The Australian satellite carried out a survey of senior health policy-makers in all Australian States and Territories in late 2008 to identify and prioritise EPOC systematic reviews that would be important for policy-makers in Australia. The results of the survey were published in the Australian Health Review journal (see article

Eighty-five priority topics were identified including advance practice roles, care for Indigenous Australians, care for chronic diseases, co-ordinating care across jurisdictions, admission avoidance, and eHealth. Sixty Cochrane reviews addressed these issues at the time of publication with 34 additional reviews in progress. Thirty-four topics were yet to be addressed including:

  • Effects of clinical networks on healthcare quality and clinical outcomes
  • Effects of alternative funding models on quality and access to services in rural and remote services
  • Effects of regional versus national management of health budgets on efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare
  • Advanced practice roles for paramedics to reduce hospital presentations after ambulance calls
  • Effects of implementing advanced practice roles for allied health professionals
  • Effects of allied health assistants to the health workforce
  • Effects of introducing physician assistants to the health workforce
  • Effects of permanent versus temporary or casual staff on safety and quality of care
  • Interventions for improving access to health services for Indigenous people
  • Interventions to improve participation of Indigenous people in the health workforce
  • Interventions to improve safety of health professionals in the workplace
  • Interventions to provide professional support to health professionals working in rural and remote areas
  • Use of PDAs to improve access to health records
  • Interventions to improve access, effectiveness and efficiency of health services for prisoners
  • Interventions to improve access, effectiveness and efficiency of health services for refugees
  • Interventions to improve appropriate uptake of diagnostic and treatment services after screening tests
  • Interventions to support Indigenous people from rural and remote areas receiving care away from home
  • Strategies for improving community engagement in health service planning and delivery
  • Effectiveness of strategies for predicting demand for acute health services
  • Effects of different methods for deciding health priorities in population health outcomes
  • Effects of electronic versus paper-based health records
  • Effects of government versus non-government provision of community-based support services
  • Interventions to improve planning for health workforce needs
  • Patient registers to improve chronic disease management
  • Effects of credentialing of health professionals on safety and quality of care
  • Intervention to improve co-ordination of services between multiple funding bodies

If your author group is based in Australia, or in the South-East Asian region, and you are interested in undertaking a systematic review within these priority areas  or would like to suggest priority topics for systematic reviews please check our author resources on proposing a new review before sending suggestions to the Managing Editor at the Australian EPOC satellite.