Introduction to Critical Appraisal

All of us would like to enjoy the best possible health we can. To achieve this, we need reliable information about what might harm or help us when we make healthcare decisions. How do we know if an intervention is the best option for us, or someone we are making decisions on behalf of. Evidence-based journals can give us reliable, relevant summaries of recent research, guidelines, protocols, studies etc.

However, we still need to be able to assess research quality to be able to adapt what we read to what we do. This course will give you an overview of what critical appraisal is and how you can develop your learning in this valuable skill.

Course details at a glance

• Training method: Online training. Learners can progress at their own pace.
• Duration: This course is approximately 30 minutes.
• Access to module: Access is 12 months from the date purchase, and you can revisit the content at any time within this.
• Certification: On completion of the course, you will automatically receive a certificate of completion which you can keep in your CPD record.
• Cost: £6 (inc. VAT)

Training Course Syllabus

The “Introduction to the Critical Appraisal” course covers:

• Challenges using evidence to change practice.
• 5 steps of evidence-based practice.
• Developing critical appraisal skills.
• Integrating and acting on the evidence.
• The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP).

Learning Objectives

By the end of this short module you will be able to:

• Understand the reasons why critical appraisal skills are valuable and relate these to your own practice.
• Appreciate the important elements of evidence-based practice and understand the 5 skills needed.
• Understand the basics of a PICO question formulation.
• Recognise the structure and sections of the CASP checklists enabling you to start using them with more confidence.

Who should attend this training course?

Health professions use research evidence in their professional practice, in professional and personal decision making, and policy & guidelines development.

• Anyone who must make decisions about someone’s care in their job or personal life.
• Health & Healthcare workers
• Dentists
• Allied Care Professionals
• Students
• Veterinary
• Policy makers
• Journalists
• Third sector workers
• Researchers

Testimonials

“Very useful - Clear, concise, good delivery”

PhD student and Advanced Nurse Practitioner 

“PICO, 5 steps to critical appraisal, scurvy example of delaying implementation all very useful”

Knowledge and Evidence Manager, Public Health 

“Short, easy to follow with just enough information to inform without losing attention”

Clinical Nurse Specialist 

About your trainer

• Erica Ison is the lead for the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme at OAP Ltd. She is an experienced trainer/facilitator in a range of fields and has worked with a variety of people from health and care professionals and third sector personnel to politicians, students, and members of the public.
• Erica carries out CASP Face to Face, Virtual and commissioned workshops.
• Erica designs and develops not only training and skills development courses, tailored for local, national, and international audiences, but also tools, checklists, and frameworks to support healthcare professionals in decision-making.
• Erica has experience in using the identification of unwarranted variation to increase value in the delivery of health services. Edited the NHS Atlases of Variation in Healthcare series since the first compendium Atlas appeared under the Quality Innovation Improvement & Prevention (QIPP) Right Care programme in 2010. Since then, she has overseen the writing, editing and production of three compendium atlases and six specialist Atlases including two editions of the Diagnostics Atlas and two of the Liver Disease Atlas.

Why learn with CASP?

• CASP training, workshops and resources help participants put knowledge into practice by learning how to systematically formulate questions, find research evidence, appraise research evidence and act on what they find.
• The philosophy of CASP has always been about sharing knowledge and understanding, working in ways that are non-hierarchical, multidisciplinary and using problem-based approaches. This ensures that it is accessible and has practical day-to-day application.
• The CASP programme has been running since 1993 and has 30 years of significant and unrivalled expertise in the delivery of training to healthcare professionals, from a wide variety of professions and disciplines. We are continuing to evolve into new ways of making our workshops accessible to those across the world, including transferring our workshop content to online learning so that participants can pace their study at their own time, having access from wherever they are.
• CASP has 8 critical appraisal tools, designed to be used when reading research. These include tools for systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case control studies, economic evaluations, diagnostic studies, qualitative studies and clinical prediction Rule.
• Our critical appraisal tools are free to download from the CASP website, can be used by anyone under the Creative Commons License,  and are used by healthcare organisations and universities world-wide, with over 400,000 downloads per year.

Ready to get started?

Gaining access to the “Introduction to Critical Appraisal” training course is quick and easy. Simply choose one of the options below:

Start this training course now
Purchase our RCT Module Bundle