2010, Auckland, New Zealand

Forming the strategic direction for consumer involvement in The Cochrane Collaboration

The purpose of the strategic session in Auckland was for the Steering Group, entity leaders and members of the Cochrane Consumer Network (CCNet) to have a focused discussion on the strategic direction for consumer involvement within the Collaboration.

The intention was two-fold:

1) To achieve clarity on consumer participation in the Collaboration within the context of the 2008-9 Strategic Review recommendations and the CCNet External Review of Consumers in The Cochrane Collaboration, focusing on Cochrane Review Groups, with particular regard to:

a.       Enhancing the quality and relevance of reviews
b.       Developing more consumer-orientated reviews
c.       Widening the dissemination of the work of the Collaboration
d.       Developing strong partnerships with appropriate national and international consumer organisations.

2. To discuss Collaboration support for sustainable consumer involvement.

The session was informed by a background paper prepared by Dell Horey from the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group, in consultation with a large number of people both inside and outside the Collaboration. The paper identified a variety of different consumer roles and activities in organisations such as the Collaboration, and suggested a number of ways in which these roles and activities could be initiated, promoted or supported.  It also noted that not all consumers and consumer activities within the Collaboration are currently contained within CCNet, and that expansion of consumer activities in the ways outlined in the paper was beyond its existing resources.

The paper proposed three different options for supporting consumer involvement in the future:

1. To continue the current approach including the provision of funding to support CCNet to support consumer volunteers

2. To extend the remit of CCNet to assume funded support responsibility for all consumers across the Collaboration

3. To establish an administrative support unit to support CCNet, other volunteers, and other consumer activities not undertaken by CCNet

Access the background paper and appendices here:

The session was facilitated by Amanda Phillips, a professional meeting facilitator external to the Collaboration, who had conducted a session at the Singapore Colloquium in 2009 on supporting women in leadership positions.Those not attending the meeting in person were invited to sign-up the live webcast.

Participants were split into small, randomly selected groups to discuss the different options, including one group who participated in the session online. Following spirited debate it became clear that while there was little or no support for Option 1, the choice between Options 2 and 3 was less obvious. The Steering Group took the results of the session back to its second meeting of the week and, following further debate, decided on Option 2 as the way forward.

It was agreed that the future focus for CCNet should be two-fold: to support consumers and their entities within and across the Collaboration; and to explain the role of the Collaboration and of evidence in health care to consumers and their representative organisations globally.  It was also agreed that achieving this focus will require additional resources, as well as some changes in the structure and functions of CCNet.

To address the resource issue, the Steering Group approved funding for a full-time Consumer Co-ordinator for the Collaboration, together with associated administrative support needed for such a position. Issues of how the remit and structure of CCNet should change to incorporate these new responsibilities were not discussed in detail, but a subgroup of the Steering Group, including its two CCNet Representatives, both Co-Chairs, the Editor in Chief and the Chief Executive Officer, were identified to work on the next steps.

Our Consumer Co-ordinator

In September 2010, following a worldwide invitation for applications, the Collaboration appointed Catherine McIlwain as the new Consumer Co-ordinator.

Catherine is from Washington, DC (USA), and has worked as a research field officer in Tanzania, and with migrant non-English speaking Hispanic women in North Carolina.  She has a Masters Degree in Public Health from Tulane University, New Orleans, and more recently has worked in website communication and as a Senior Advisor for The Campbell Collaboration.

In welcoming this new appointment, Nick Royle, the Collaboration’s CEO, said:

“Our Consumers have been doing a great job over the years, working with very limited resources and mostly in their own time. They have recognised that their role needs full-time assistance, and the Steering Group has been happy to support them in this.”

Liz Whamond, a Consumer Representative on the Collaboration’s Steering Group, continued that:

“The CCNet Transitional Executive very much looks forward to working with Catherine to build breadth and depth to the current CCNet. The position of Consumer Co-ordinator is vital to our work.“

Catherine stated that:

“As Cochrane’s end-users, Consumers need consistent involvement in the development of systematic reviews. By following the direction and leadership of the Consumer group, my work will provide full-time resources to forge the networks necessary for this to happen.“

Catherine is based in Esher, UK, and working from the Cochrane Collaboration Secretariat’s offices in Oxford. Her email address is cmcilwain@cochrane.org.

Consumer operating structure, agreed January 2011

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