OBJECTIVE: We present the \'COVID-19 evidence ecosystem\' (CEOsys) as a German network to inform pandemic management and to support clinical and public health decision-making. We discuss challenges faced when organizing the ecosystem and derive lessons learned for similar networks acting during pandemics or health-related crises.
METHODS: Bringing together 18 university hospitals and additional institutions, CEOsys key activities included research prioritization, conducting living systematic reviews (LSRs), supporting evidence-based (living) guidelines, knowledge translation (KT), detecting research gaps, and deriving recommendations, backed by technical infrastructure and capacity building.
RESULTS: CEOsys rapidly produced 31 high-quality evidence syntheses and supported three living guidelines on COVID-19-related topics, while also developing methodological procedures. Challenges included CEOsys\' late initiation in relation to the pandemic outbreak, the delayed prioritization of research questions, the continuously evolving COVID-19-related evidence, and establishing a technical infrastructure. Methodological-clinical tandems, the cooperation with national guideline groups and international collaborations were key for efficiency.
CONCLUSIONS: CEOsys provided a proof-of-concept for a functioning evidence ecosystem at the national level. Lessons learned include that similar networks should, among others, involve methodological and clinical key stakeholders early on, aim for (inter)national collaborations, and systematically evaluate their value. We particularly call for a sustainable network.

UNASSIGNED: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission has supported collating and sharing evidence globally by developing sports medicine consensus statements (\'Statements\'\'). Publishing the Statements requires substantial resources that must be balanced by use and impact on policy and practice. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of awareness and uptake of the Statements globally through a survey of the National Olympic Committees (NOC), National Paralympic Committees (NPC) and International Federations (IF).
UNASSIGNED: A cross-sectional survey of medical commission representatives from NOCs/NPCs/IFs. A structured questionnaire was distributed through the IOC head office, informed by prior research. Questions comprised a mix of closed and open-text responses with results presented descriptively by organisation type and total.
UNASSIGNED: 55 responses were included: 29 (52%) from NOC/NPC representatives (response rate 14%) and 26 (47%) from IF representatives (response rate 63%). All Statements had been used by at least one respondent, with the Statement addressing concussion ranked highest (used by 33/55). The main barriers to use were financial limitations (n=21), club/sport culture and behaviours (n=19) and lack of understanding from coaches/team sport personnel (n=19). Participants believed the Statements were a successful strategy for improving athlete health (n=39/51 agree or strongly agree).
UNASSIGNED: There was clear support for the continued development of sports medicine guidance, including in the format of these Statements. To ensure Statements lead to demonstrable health benefits for athletes, input from athletes, coaches and supporting staff is needed, as well as clearer identification of the purpose and audience of each topic developed.

OBJECTIVE: The involvement of consumers (people with lived experience of disease) in guidelines is widely advocated to improve their relevance and uptake. However, the approaches to consumer involvement in guidelines vary and are not well documented. We describe the consumer involvement framework of Caring for Australians and New ZealandeRs with kidney Impairment Guidelines.
METHODS: We used a descriptive document analysis to collate all relevant policies, documents, e-mails, and presentations on consumer involvement in our organizations. We performed a narrative synthesis of collated data to summarize our evolving consumer involvement approach in guidelines.
RESULTS: We involve consumers at all levels of Caring for Australians and New ZealandeRs with kidney Impairment guideline development and dissemination according to their capacity, from conducting consumer workshops to inform the scope of guidelines, to including consumers as members of the guideline Working Groups and overseeing operations and governance as members of the Steering Committee and staff. Our approach has resulted in tangible outcomes including high-priority topics on patient education, psychosocial care, and clinical care pathways, and focusing the literature reviews to assess patient-important outcomes. The ongoing partnership with consumers led to the generation of consumer version guidelines to improve guideline dissemination and translation to support shared decision-making.
CONCLUSIONS: Meaningful consumer involvement can be achieved through a comprehensive approach across the entire lifecycle of guidelines. However, it must be individualized by ensuring that the involvement of consumers is timely and flexible. Future work is needed to assess the impact of consumer involvement in guideline development.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the common understanding of focal muscle spasticity guidelines amongst clinicians working in spasticity clinics. To examine the facilitators and barriers to their implementation as well as their influence on clinic processes.
METHODS: A qualitative study based on a phenomenological approach.
METHODS: Online videoconferencing platform.
METHODS: Sixteen experienced multi-disciplinary clinicians providing specialised care across 12 spasticity clinics in Victoria, Australia.
METHODS: Observational.
METHODS: Two independent reviewers performed line by line coding of transcripts. Reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken with themes/subthemes inductively derived.
RESULTS: Seven key themes emerged. First, knowledge of specific guideline recommendations was low amongst some clinicians. Second, there is a lack of health service resources to support guideline implementation. Third, a limited evidence base for guidelines affected clinicians\' willingness to implement the recommendations. Fourth, peer support was highly valued but opportunities to collaborate were limited. Fifth, a large amount of intrinsic motivation and personal time was required from clinicians to successfully implement guideline recommendations. Sixth, the standardisation of clinic processes was one way in which clinicians felt they could better align their clinical practice to guidelines. Lastly, guidelines overall had a moderate influence on spasticity clinic processes.
CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of recommendations varied but, overall, guidelines had an influence on clinic processes and staff perceptions across the state-wide services. Health service resources, limited evidence for guideline recommendations and time constraints were considered barriers to spasticity guideline implementation. Multi-disciplinary expertise and teamwork, the individual\'s motivation to change and inter-clinic collaboration were considered to be the facilitators.

BACKGROUND: The growth of urban dwelling populations globally has led to rapid increases of research and policy initiatives addressing associations between the built environment and physical activity (PA). Given this rapid proliferation, it is important to identify priority areas and research questions for moving the field forward. The objective of this study was to identify and compare research priorities on the built environment and PA among researchers and knowledge users (e.g., policy makers, practitioners).
METHODS: Between September 2022 and April 2023, a three-round, modified Delphi survey was conducted among two independent panels of international researchers (n = 38) and knowledge users (n = 23) to identify similarities and differences in perceived research priorities on the built environment and PA and generate twin \'top 10\' lists of the most important research needs.
RESULTS: From a broad range of self-identified issues, both panels ranked in common the most pressing research priorities including stronger study designs such as natural experiments, research that examines inequalities and inequities, establishing the cost effectiveness of interventions, safety and injuries related to engagement in active transportation (AT), and considerations for climate change and climate adaptation. Additional priorities identified by researchers included: implementation science, research that incorporates Indigenous perspectives, land-use policies, built environments that support active aging, and participatory research. Additional priorities identified by knowledge users included: built environments and PA among people living with disabilities and a need for national data on trip chaining, multi-modal travel, and non-work or school-related AT.
CONCLUSIONS: Five common research priorities between the two groups emerged, including (1) to better understand causality, (2) interactions with the natural environment, (3) economic evaluations, (4) social disparities, and (5) preventable AT-related injuries. The findings may help set directions for future research, interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations, and funding opportunities.

BACKGROUND: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is a genetic condition that is a preventable cause of premature cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. High-level evidence and clinical practice guidelines support preventative care for people with FH. However, it is estimated that less than 10% of people at risk of FH have been detected using any approach across Australian health settings. The aim of this study was to identify the implementation barriers to and facilitators of the detection of FH in Australia.
METHODS: Four, 2-hour virtual focus groups were facilitated by implementation scientists and a clinicians as part of the 2021 Australasian FH Summit. Template analysis was used to identify themes.
RESULTS: There were 28 workshop attendees across four groups (n=6-8 each), yielding 13 barriers and 10 facilitators across three themes: (1) patient related, (2) provider related, and (3) system related. A \"lack of care pathways\" and \"upskilling clinicians in identifying and diagnosing FH\" were the most interconnected barriers and facilitators for the detection of FH.
CONCLUSIONS: The relationships between barriers and facilitators across the patient, provider, and system themes indicates that a comprehensive implementation strategy is needed to address these different levels. Future research is underway to develop a model for implementing the Australian FH guidelines into practice.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM) requires a set of individual and organizational knowledge, skills and attitudes that should be articulated with background factors and needs. In this regard, the development of an EIPM competency profile is important to support the diagnosis, planning and implementation of EIPM.
OBJECTIVE: To present the process and outcomes of the development of an EIPM competency profile by an expert committee, to be applied in different contexts of the Brazilian Health System.
METHODS: A committee of experts in EIPM shared different views, experiences and opinions to develop an EIPM competency profile for Brazil. In six consensus workshops mediated by facilitators, the committee defined from macro problems to key actions and performances essential for the competency profile. The development steps consisted of: (1) Constitution of the committee, including researchers, professionals with practical experience, managers, and educators; (2) Development of a rapid review on EIPM competency profiles; (3) Agreement on commitments and responsibilities in the processes; (4) Identification and definition of macro problems relating to the scope of the competency profile; and (5) Outlining of general and specific capacities, to be incorporated into the competency profile, categorized by key actions.
RESULTS: The development of the EIPM competency profile was guided by the following macro problems: (1) lack of systematic and transparent decision-making processes in health policy management; (2) underdeveloped institutional capacity for knowledge management and translation; and (3) incipient use of scientific evidence in the formulation and implementation of health policies. A general framework of key actions and performances of the EIPM Competency Profile for Brazil was developed, including 42 specific and general key actions distributed by area of activity (Health Management, Scientific Research, Civil Society, Knowledge Translation, and Cross-sectional areas).
CONCLUSIONS: The competency profile presented in this article can be used in different contexts as a key tool for the institutionalization of EIPM.

Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) are an important resource to improve population health; however, little is known about the types of strategies to disseminate them. This study sought to describe dissemination strategies and content of dissemination plans that were available for FBDG.
A cross-sectional audit of FBDG with a published English-language version sourced from the United Nations FAO repository. We searched for publicly available dissemination strategies and any corresponding plans available in English language. Two authors extracted data on strategies, which were grouped according to the Model for Dissemination Research Framework (including source, audience, channel and message). For guidelines with a dissemination plan, we described goals, audience, strategies and expertise and resources according to the Canadian Institute for Health Research guidance.
FBDG from fifty-three countries mostly from high-income (n 28, 52·8 %), and upper-middle income (n 18, 34 %) areas were included.
n/a.
The source of guidelines was most frequently health departments (79·2 %). The message included quantities and types of foods, physical activity recommendations and 88·7 % included summarised versions of main messages. The most common channels were infographics and information booklets, and the main end-users were the public. For twelve countries (22·6 %), we were able to source an English-language dissemination plan, where none met all recommendations outlined by the Canadian Institute for Health Research.
The public was the most frequently identified end-user and thus most dissemination strategies and plans focused on this group. Few FBDG had formal dissemination plans and of those there was limited detailed provided.

Vision plays an important role in an athletes\' success. In sports, nearly 80% of perceptual input is visual, and eye health and sports medicine are closely intertwined fields of utmost importance to athletes. The physical nature of sports activities renders individuals more prone to various eye injuries than the general population. Ocular trauma can lead to lifelong sequelae, and impaired vision requires careful follow-up and management. Apart from injuries, athletes may also experience vision problems that can hamper their performance, including blurred vision, double vision, and light sensitivity. The interdisciplinary nature of sports medicine necessitates collaboration between sports medicine professionals and ophthalmologists. Through such collaborations, athletes can receive appropriate eye care, education on proper eye protection and guidance on adopting good eye health practices. If any inconspicuous symptoms are not detected and treated promptly, athletes may acquire systemic injuries because of defective vision, preventing them from achieving high level athletic performance in competitions. The protection of the elite athlete is the responsibility of all of us in sports medicine. To advance a more unified, evidence-informed approach to ophthalmic health assessment and management in athletes and as relevant for sports medicine physicians, the International Olympic Committee Consensus Group aims for a critical evaluation of the current state of the science and practice of ophthalmologic issues and illness in high-level sports, and present recommendations for a unified approach to this important issue.

UNASSIGNED: In Egypt, academic organizations, professional societies, and research groups develop clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in order to improve patient quality care and safety. Although important improvements have been made over the past years, many of these consensus-based guideline documents still lack the transparency and methodological rigor of international standards and methodologies recommended by reference evidence-based healthcare and guideline organizations like the Guidelines International Network.
UNASSIGNED: In the Egyptian Pediatric Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee (EPG), we have adopted one of the CPG formal adaptation methodological frameworks named the \'Adapted ADAPTE\', relevant CPG resources (e.g., the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation or AGREE II Instrument), and involved key stakeholders including clinical and healthcare topic experts and guideline methodologists in producing 32 trustworthy national evidence-based CPGs and one protocol customized to the healthcare context and services provided for Egyptian children. An EPG online website was launched to make these CPGs available and accessible as CPG summaries for pediatricians and relevant healthcare providers.
UNASSIGNED: The lessons learned, enablers, challenges, and solutions relevant to Egyptian National Pediatric CPGs identified in this paper could be used to address and enrich the debate on pediatric high-quality CPGs, especially for countries of similar contexts and systems.
UNASSIGNED: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s42269-023-01059-0.