Campbell Collaboration: Going further together to improve social policy
About 10 years ago, I found myself running the last leg of my annual pilgrimage to the 17-stage relay around Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in the pouring rain. After only 2 km, my legs were soaked and heavy with rain, and my body was feeling frozen to the core. Lucky for me, a fellow runner paired up with me and encouraged me to finish the remaining 17 km, just one step at a time, or in his words ‘keep it going’. I am not sure I would have got through that run without my newfound partner.
In my role as editor-in-chief and interim CEO of the Campbell Collaboration, I am truly grateful for our partners and collaborators who help us make a difference in the world. For example, our recent partnership with the Youth Endowment Foundation in the UK is focused on completing prioritised systematic reviews, which are being used to inform policy on preventing youth crime through the continuous updating of the YEF toolkit.
As another example, Campbell is pleased to participate in this World Evidence-based Healthcare Day partnership with JBI, Cochrane, Guidelines International Network, National Institute for Health Care Excellence (NICE), Institute for Evidence-Based Health Care (IEBHC) and Centre for Evidence-based Health Care (CEBHC). Meeting regularly to plan the global campaign for World EBHC Day, including a series of blogs and vlogs, has created connections that have led to a generation of new ideas, such as a Campbell and JBI collaborating to compare Campbell evidence and gap maps to scoping reviews, and collaboration on challenges to guideline development in the social sciences between NICE, GIN and Campbell (leading to a panel at the GIN annual conference in Toronto in September 2022). And, I would be remiss if I did not mention how delighted my husband and I are with our new #ebhc T-shirts!
Some might ask why Campbell, which focuses on social policy, is involved in this partnership in evidence-based healthcare. Many of our reviews assess the effects of social policies and programs on health as well as social outcomes. For example, our recent systematic review on workplace interventions to prevent accidents at work found that group-level interventions were more effective than those aimed at individuals for preventing injuries. As another example, our review of aquaculture in low- and lower-middle-income countries found improvements in women’s empowerment and nutrition outcomes.
Coming back to my running partner for the Cabot Trail Relay, we were an improbable pair since he was an ultra-marathoner and I was a weekend warrior, mother of two young children at the time. Our partnership helped us achieve our purpose to complete that run, and we had fun too. I wish you every success in building partnerships for purpose to advance our shared vision to see all health and social policies informed by rigorous, high-quality evidence.
References
Dyreborg, J., Lipscomb, H. J., Nielsen, K., Törner, M., Rasmussen, K., Frydendall, K. B., Bay, H., Gensby, U., Bengtsen, E., Guldenmund, F., & Kines, P. (2022). Safety interventions for the prevention of accidents at work: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 18, e1234. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1234
Gonzalez Parrao, C., Shisler, S., Moratti, M., Yavuz, C., Acharya, A., Eyers, J., & Snilstveit, B. (2021). Aquaculture for improving productivity, income, nutrition and women's empowerment in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 17, e1195. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1195
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.
