Evidence Aid is an international platform that was formed out of the need to deliver time sensitive access to systematic reviews for use in the event of disasters and other humanitarian emergencies. The method of using systematic reviews (a collection of available evidence on any given topic) is to provide evidence for use by policy makers, clinicians, regulators, and even the general public who benefit when these materials are easy to understand and are accessible. The vision of Evidence Aid is to create and satisfy an increasing demand for evidence to improve the impact of humanitarian aid by stimulating the use of an evidence-based approach. Evidence Aid was founded in 2004. It is currently a project that is housed by the Cochrane Collaboration and Queen's University Belfast. Evidence Aid was established by several members of the international Cochrane Collaboration following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Evidence Aid was formed to provide systematic reviews on the effects of interventions and actions of relevance prior to, in the course of and during the aftermath of disasters or other humanitarian emergencies, in order to improve health-related outcomes; their aim is to work with those who need and use this evidence (those preparing for and responding to disasters and humanitarian emergencies – policy-makers, guideline developers, trainers, as well as aid agencies and independent consultants), as well as working with researchers and publishers to facilitate freely accessible materials to meet the information needs for those facing humanitarian emergencies and disasters. Evidence Aid works in collaboration with other organizations including Public Health England; Red Cross Flanders, International Rescue Committee; Centers for Disease Control; Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine; and the University of Oxford.
Purpose Evidence Aid's purpose is to create and satisfy an increasing demand for evidence to improve the impact of humanitarian aid by stimulating the use of an evidence-based approach.
Evidence Aid collates knowledge from systematic reviews to provide a portal of resources for decision-makers. The systematic reviews seek to highlight which interventions work, which do not work, which need more research, and which, no matter how well meaning, might be harmful. Those in need have the right to receive humanitarian aid that has been proven to be effective and not harmful. With an increasing demand for "value for money", proof of impact and effectiveness in the provision of humanitarian aid it is essential to ensure that decisions and activities are evidence-based. They keep this information up to date where it can serve as a provision to other agencies, planning groups and first responders in, disasters, humanitarian crises or major healthcare emergencies.
The objectives of Evidence Aid are to: Establish and increase an evidence-based approach towards humanitarian action Uphold and promote the value of evidence in health outcomes across sectors Identify the gaps in evidence for humanitarian aid and build the resources and network to address them Raise the capacity and commitment of those who guide the humanitarian sector to implement an evidence-based approach
Evidence Aid also provides collections of evidence which are topic specific, such as collections for Ebola, the Health of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Europe, Windstorms and Earthquakes. These collections contain evidence-based guidelines, randomised controlled trials, and other useful information.
Resources
Team
Evidence Aid's office is based with the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (Oxford, UK) and it also has a desk in Cochrane (London, UK). The core team of four are based in two different locations. Mike Clarke, who founded the initiative and is now the chair of the board of trustees and Research Director, is a professor at Queen's University and also has a position at the Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin. Jeroen Jansen, Evidence Aid's first Director, is based in London and Oxford overseeing the day-to-day management and activities of Evidence Aid, and Claire Allen, Operations Manager, who works from home in Weymouth, UK, channels the integration with the world in need and brings the project and research together to facilitate evidence-based aid when nations are at their most vulnerable. They are supported by Jane Higgins, part-time Office Administrator, based in Oxford, UK. The impact of Evidence Aid is currently undergoing impact evaluation by Dominic Mellon, a Public Health Specialty Registrar based in Bristol, UK, as part of a PhD research project supervised by Mike Clarke at Queen's.
In addition to the core team, Evidence Aid is supported by volunteers who work in various aspects of public health, humanitarian relief, and systematic reviews, where they collaborate from multiple locations around the world. Evidence Aid welcomes volunteers who are self-motivated and who can be flexible about the tasks assigned to them. Evidence Aid, as a Charity, registered with the Charity Commission in the UK also has a board of trustees which comprises Professor Mike Clarke (chair), Dr Phil Davies, Lady Deborah Dixon (Treasurer), Mr Michael Stone, and Mrs Sue Wolstenholme.
Special Resources
Evidence Aid seeks to bring together systematic reviews of relevance to disasters, humanitarian crises, and major healthcare emergencies, in a single online resource where they can be accessed free of charge and are available to anyone. Though information on best practice and low-cost interventions may be known in the medical, scientific or academic communities, this same information may not be available or easily found by communities or countries in crisis. Evidence Aid and its volunteers search the literature identifying relevant systematic reviews and works with others to produce short evidence summaries so that the information can be easily understood and applied by end users, in this case, those who have suffered as a result of disasters or those facing or who are experiencing humanitarian crises. The organization then uploads them to the searchable resource page where they are offered for the use of all. Additional resources are added as the needs are identified. For example, "Landslides: A draft chapter from the upcoming book Koenig and Schultz's Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition" was made available as free access for Evidence Aid.
Separately, Evidence Aid has partnered with Cochrane to co-ordinate and administer four special collections covering: flooding and poor water sanitation; earthquakes; burns; and posttraumatic stress disorder. The Cochrane Collaboration participated in the production of these collections and they are housed on The Cochrane Library.
Urgent response
Evidence Aid is able to provide a response to disasters and humanitarian emergencies, examples as follows: Through its resources, it provides an urgent response to the evidence needs that arise pre, during and post event. Prior to the disaster, during and in the short-term after the event, Evidence Aid can bundle together very brief summaries of the findings of systematic reviews of relevance to, for example, the impact of windstorms depending on the nature of the event being responded to. Evidence Aid works with partners to provide a context-specific resource for the evidence needs that arise during the subsequent weeks and months. This is critical because no disaster will be identical and the needs of the people and nations can change over time and context. It is possible to continue to learn from each disaster in order to adapt useful and relevant problem-solving strategies to meet the current needs. As information about what works best is shared the resources should also be useful as part of the planning for disaster risk reduction and alleviating the impact of a disaster. For an example, see the response to Ebola and the European migrant crisis. Gathering information about the need for evidence and to seek to ensure that this need is met through up-to-date systematic reviews of the relevant research. Systematic Reviews are identified and included in the Evidence Aid resources. Evidence Aid works with volunteers and authors of systematic reviews to produce short summaries of each systematic review to help decision-makers to decide whether reading the full review is useful for their area of focus in the disaster.
Financial support
In addition to core staff and volunteer support, Evidence Aid has traditionally been financed by philanthropic organisations including, but not restricted to the McCall MacBain Foundation, the C&A FoundatioN, Wiley, and the Unorthodox Prize. Evidence Aid works to provide optimal evidence that is location specific.
Policy setting
Evidence Aid has developed recommendations on evidence in humanitarian assistance which identify critical research needs and prioritizes them.
Evidence Aid was awarded funds by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) for a scoping study, "What evidence is available and what is required, in humanitarian assistance?" in 2014. This report was published to coincide with the anniversary of the 2004 tsunami. The aim of the study was to provide an independent analysis of the evidence base of evaluations in humanitarian assistance. It identifies areas where there are key gaps and where there is a need to prioritize rigorous evidence on issues that are most important and valuable. Evidence Aid worked with 3ie, the Karolinska Institutet, and Monash University to develop a working paper. The first scoping paper is "What evidence is available and what is required in humanitarian assistance?"
The scope of this research goes beyond the question of impact evaluation, key recommendations were made to move the provision of evidence forward in the sector, including: The case for evidence: agreement from policy makers on the need for an evidence base; Priorities for evidence: a suggested framework; Improved accessibility to evidence: through a one–stop portal and better classification; and Common guidelines and standards: through templates and standards for data collection. Medical Rehabilitation in Natural Disasters: A Systematic Review looks at how rehabilitation can be managed in the course of a natural disaster where functional resources, skilled health care personnel and equipment may be limited
Evidence Aid works with partners, contributors, and volunteers from multiple nations to achieve its aim of providing people and organizations with the knowledge tools they need to make well-informed decisions and choices in their efforts to improve health, increase the quality of life and reduce human errors in disaster management following disasters, humanitarian crises, and major healthcare emergencies.
Setting priorities
Evidence Aid helped set priorities for the Humanitarian Evidence Programme by the identification and prioritization of themes to meet the top 30 research needs for the sector for health outcomes in humanitarian response, this strategy is one way they can work with communities to ascertain what evidence is needed. This exercise is being co-ordinated by the Feinstein International Centre at Tufts University and Oxfam.
International aid contributions
In supporting this mission, Evidence Aid has undertaken the following activities: