Evidence Synthesis Ireland (ESI) is an all-Ireland initiative funded by the Health and Social Care, Research and Development (HSC R&D) Division of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and the Health Research Board (HRB) in Ireland.
Their mission is to make evidence syntheses more usable in every sense of the word – better designed, conducted and reported, more useable for decision makers and more usable within health care policy and clinical practice decision making across the Island of Ireland and beyond.
The primary aim of ESI is to build evidence synthesis knowledge, awareness and capacity among the public, health care institutions and policymakers, clinicians and researchers on the Island of Ireland. The secondary aim is to generate knowledge on methodological efficiencies in evidence syntheses. ESI provide Training, Fellowships and Summer Studentships. For more information see evidencesynthesisireland.ie
ESI also includes Cochrane Ireland (see below), whose mission is to promote evidence-informed health decision-making by producing high-quality, relevant, accessible systematic reviews and other synthesized research evidence.
Cochrane Ireland
In 2002, Ireland became the first country to provide free national access to the Cochrane Library, co-funded by HSC R&D Division in Northern Ireland and the Health Research Board (HRB) in Ireland.
HSC R&D Division in collaboration with HRB have jointly developed Cochrane Ireland as a resource for researchers and users of research evidence on the island of Ireland.
The role of Cochrane Ireland is:
- To promote The Cochrane Collaboration* in Ireland
- To serve as a source of information about The Cochrane Collaboration and its outputs
- To highlight and maintain awareness of the benefits of systematic review methodologies and skills among stakeholders across the island of Ireland
- To highlight and maintain awareness of the usefulness of robust evidence provided by the reviews, among health and social care practitioners and policy-makers across the island of Ireland
- To co-ordinate and provide access to information on Cochrane activities on the island of Ireland
- To ensure effective communication between the UK Cochrane Centre (UKCC) and the island of Ireland
- To build upon excellent Cochrane engagement by ensuring participation of the widest range of academic and professional disciplines
Stakeholders include the wider academic community, patients and the public, health professionals and those who commission and pay for health or social care on the island of Ireland can benefit from access to the best quality evidence to underpin practice.
* The Cochrane Collaboration is a not-for-profit independent organisation dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare interventions readily available worldwide. It produces and disseminates systematic reviews of healthcare interventions in over fifty topic areas and makes them available as The Cochrane Library.