EVALUATION OF A PROGRAM OF WORKSHOPS FOR PROMOTING THE TEACHING OF CRITICAL-APPRAISAL SKILLS

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of four training workshops at the inception of a programme to cascade critical apprais al skills training throughout Scotland. Data were collected from all p articipants and organizers at four commissioned critical appraisal ski lls training workshops in Scotland. The collection of data involved th ree components: a survey of workshop participants before and after eac h workshop to determine knowledge of the principles of clinical effect iveness; semi-structured interviews with organizers before, during and after the programme of commissioned workshops to assess views on the workshops; and a postal survey to determine involvement in critical ap praisal activities following the initial workshops. The main outcome m easures were 'change in knowledge' and subsequent involvement in teach ing. An average of 41 people attended each workshop. Participants impr oved their scores on understanding of clinical effectiveness. Not all of the improvement can be ascribed to the workshops, however, because control item scores also improved, albeit to a lesser extent. The work shops were perceived as an acceptable way of acquiring critical apprai sal skills, but doubts were expressed about whether participants would be able to roll out the programme on their own. Of the 32 (42%) atten dees who were involved in GASP-style workshops after the initial works hops, 26 (34%) providing aspects of teaching, and a further six (8%) w ere participants. The evaluation of the GASP workshop technique sugges ts that it does improve knowledge of clinical effectiveness, but conce rns remain about the viability and reliability of this approach as it rolls out training within Scotland.