Background

The transparent and effective management of conflict of interest is at the heart of Cochrane’s reputation for creating high quality, unbiased health information. Cochrane’s current Commercial sponsorship policy is very strong in comparison to other biomedical  journals. It is consistent with major guidelines bodies, in that it not only requires conflicts of interest to be declared, it also rules that some authors are ineligible from conducting Cochrane Reviews. Nevertheless, all polices, however robust, need to be reviewed and revised periodically. The Commercial sponsorship policy was last updated in May 2014, following a consultation exercise.

Data from cases referred to Cochrane’s Funding Arbiters indicate that some clauses in the current policy are ambiguous or lacking in sufficient detail and are therefore challenging for Cochrane authors and editorial teams to implement. In addition, audits requested by the Cochrane Governing Board Co-Chairs in 2014 and 2017 suggest that adherence to the policy is inconsistent. There has also been discussion within the Cochrane community and elsewhere about the role of non-financial (academic, professional and personal) conflicts of interest, and the need for a policy to address these. In March 2018 the Governing Board approved a proposal to revise the current commercial sponsorship policy and develop a non-financial or academic conflict of interest policy. For more information about the project please see an editorial published in the Cochrane Library in November 2018.

Methods

In October 2018, a project team was assembled to work on the COI policy revision project forward, including David Tovey, Ruth Foxlee, Kirsty Loudon and Graham Smith from the Editorial & Methods Dept and Fergus Macbeth and Angela Webster, Funding Arbiters. Two project boards were convened to provide advice and support to the project team – one focusing on financial conflicts and the other on non-financial conflicts. The project boards have now been merged into a single board which includes representatives from the Governing Board, the Cochrane Council, the Editorial Board, and COI experts both internal and external to Cochrane.

To inform the policy revision the project team has undertaken three separate activities:

1. A literature review to gather ideas and information about COI policies in other organisations globally
2. A survey of the Cochrane user community
3. In-depth interviews with representatives of key Cochrane stakeholder groups and other individuals with COI expertise

Progress to date

The information gathering stage of the literature review has been completed and a report is in the final stages of receiving feedback from the COI Project Board. The report summarises the appropriate sections of COI policies from 33 biomedical journals and organisations and the latest literature on COI.

The community survey closed on the 17th of February with a total of 970 completed entries. The data collected through this survey has been analysed using mixed methods, with both quantitative analysis of the 19 questions and qualitative analysis of the 1,333 free text responses. This included 199 responses to the final question requesting “additional feedback and examples of Conflict of Interest”. A summary report has been drafted and will go to the COI Project Board for comment before the end of May 2019.

Sixteen semi-structured interviews have been conducted with representatives of Cochrane’s various stakeholder groups – funders, guideline developers, consumers, clinicians, science writers and CRG leaders. The information collected from the interviews, including any feedback on Cochrane’s current policy, and any other ideas relating to COI, is currently being analysed and a report prepared. We hope to complete the interview report by the end of May.

Emerging themes and questions

In the work carried out so far, some themes and questions have emerged, which the COI Project Team and Board will consider when recommending possible changes to Cochrane’s policy

• Scope of the policy revision – should the policy cover review production only or encompass COI across other parts of Cochrane (e.g. the Governing Board, Centre & Field staff, CET staff, etc.)?
• Should we set thresholds or “grade” judgements on financial COI?
• Is being a trialist something that is simply declared, or does it prevent authorship? Does it make a difference if the trial is industry funded or publicly funded?
• Should 100% of authors on a Cochrane review be conflict-free? (Current policy states >50%)
• Should Co-ordinating Editors of Cochrane Review Groups be allowed to have any indirect conflicts (e.g. accept consultancy fees or reimbursement for travel from a commercial organisation)? Should this question extend to other editorial base staff?
• What elements of non-financial COI would we want to include in a Cochrane policy – professional, academic, personal, institutional, cultural?
• Is a non-financial conflict something that is simply declared, or does it prevent authorship?
• Should failure to disclose a relevant COI be considered scientific misconduct?
• What is the best approach to monitoring compliance - checking through annual audits or more active, real-time monitoring?

What’s next?

The COI Project Team will draft a recommendations paper and revised policy based on the literature review, the survey results and the interviews with stakeholders. The team is keenly aware that Cochrane’s approach to COI is of interest to many people, both in and outside the organization. Conflict of interest is impossible to avoid and affects everybody – even those who believe themselves to be immune for any type of outside influence. We cannot aim to implement a policy that eliminates COI entirely; nevertheless consumers, clinicians, funders, and policy-makers should be confident that our policy is robust and in-line with industry best practice. In addition to instilling confidence in our users, we must find a way to continue to allow people from diverse academic, clinical, and cultural backgrounds to contribute to the production of Cochrane reviews.

• Review our current Commercial sponsorship policy

A number of stipends and bursaries are available to help consumers and other attendees based in developing countries to attend Cochrane Colloquium Santiago 2019.

Stipends and bursaries represent funding you can apply for if you are eligible that is intended to help cover registration and other expenses associated with attending the 2019 Colloquium.

Cochrane is providing stipends for:
1.    Cochrane Consumers
2.    individuals living in low-lower-middle and upper-middle-income countries (LMIC/UMIC)

The deadline for applying is Monday 10 June 2019 and winners will be notified in July

Find out whether you are eligible and how to apply

To those who are thinking of applying, see below information from some of 2018 Stipend Recipients who attended the Edinburgh Colloquium:

The deadline for applying is Monday 10 June 2019 and winners will be notified in July

Find out whether you are eligible and how to apply

Since 1995, Cochrane’s Consumer Network Executive has provided governance and leadership for the international community of consumers (patients, care-givers, family members and others) who volunteer to help produce and spread Cochrane evidence (1556 and growing, in April 2019). The Executive also represents the consumer voice in other areas of Cochrane, including two members of Cochrane’s Council.

Nominations were invited in early 2019 to fill vacant positions on the Consumer Executive (CE) and applications closed on 29th March 2019. In recognition of the increasing need for representation on Cochrane bodies, and the opportunities ahead for consumer involvement, the decision was taken to increase the size of the CE to six consumer members.

I am delighted to announce that the following new people have been appointed to the Executive for a period of three years:

• Helen Bulbeck
• Rachel Plachcinski
• Maureen Smith

Joy Oliver, who fills a position reserved for someone from a Low- and Middle-Income Country, was re-appointed for a second term of three years.

Continuing members are Sara Yaron and Nancy Fitton. You can read more about the members of the CE here https://consumers.cochrane.org/whos-who.

Anne Lyddiatt, our current CE chair, will this year be ending her distinguished term of service on the Executive.

Key issues ahead for the CE include extending Cochrane’s engagement and involvement around the world; how we better support consumers, especially in peer review; and planning for a post 2020 strategy that embeds consumer involvement in Cochrane.

Meet our new members

Dr Helen Bulbeck

Helen has experienced cancer from a carer’s perspective and also as a cancer patient. She uses the experience of being a patient, relative, member of the public and a carer to support 1000s of patients who have brain cancer. This 360-degree view means that she is well placed to understand the perspectives of patients, caregivers and health care professionals.

Her roles in brainstrust, a national brain cancer charity which she founded, and as a consumer representative with various bodies are as a disseminator of information and the provision of a network and community, so that she can provide advice on achieving effective consumer involvement and creating a voice. Helen’s key drivers are the patients, their carers and healthcare professionals, with whom she interacts daily. Her ethos of 'none of us is as smart as all of us' is a core value for her.

Elemental to Helen’s work is high performance coaching. This sets brainstrust apart. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. The coaching relationship enables people to face these challenges, so that they learn how to develop resilience and utilise resources to their full potential.

Helen stays up to date with relevant research, ensuring her reading is not brain centric. The skills she developed whilst studying for her PhD means that she is tenacious in spirit, but with a listening ear.

You can contact Helen at helen@brainstrust.org.uk

Rachel Plachcinski

 
Rachel came to the Cochrane community and the Pregnancy and Childbirth Group via her involvement with NCT, a UK charity supporting parents through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood, which she joined after the birth of her first son. She really appreciated NCT's commitment to information, evidence-based care and peer support, and went on to train as one of their practitioners, delivering antenatal courses for 18 years.

Rachel went to university when her third son started school, completing a BSc in psychology followed by an MSc in Psychological Approaches to Health. She is also a Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) trainer and has run many Journal Club sessions for consumers, using a variety of media. Rachel has represented parents on several major trials in maternity research, and now co-ordinates research collaborations for NCT as well as being joint lead for parent, patient and public involvement at the National Perinatal and Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) at the University of Oxford and a member of the Public Advisory Board for Health Data Research UK. She regularly comments on PCG reviews, is learning how to be a Cochrane author and is working with the PCG team on plans to recruit and support more consumers, especially those from low and middle income countries.

Maureen Smith
 

Maureen Smith, M.Ed. (Psychopédagogie) has a long history of collaboration with the medical community subsequent to a rare disease diagnosis in childhood. She joined the Cochrane Consumer Network in 2015 but her interest in evidence-based medicine dates back to 2000 when she began serving on various Canadian federal and provincial committees as a patient or public member.

Beyond providing peer-review comments for Cochrane Musculoskeletal, Maureen is involved in several Cochrane projects such as Decision coaching for people making health care decisions, two MuSE projects (Barriers and facilitators to multi-stakeholder engagement in guideline development and Impact of multi-stakeholder engagement in guideline development), and Replication of systematic reviews.

Maureen has participated in two Rapid Rec reviews. She is a member of the Ontario Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Unit’s Patient Partners Working Group, the Institut du Savoir Montfort’s Steering Committee on the collaborative research approach, the Board of Directors of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders, and the Patient-Centred Outcomes Research Institute’s (PCORI) Rare Disease Advisory Panel. Maureen has a fervent belief in the importance of evidence-based medicine as she is a patient member on Ontario’s Committee to Evaluate Drugs since 2014 and the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee since November 2016.

For more information go to https://consumers.cochrane.org/, follow us on Twitter at @cochraneconsumr, and Facebook or email Richard Morley, the Consumer Engagement Officer at rmorley@cochrane.org

Submit your meeting request here (login required)

The purpose of Colloquium meetings is to give sufficient time for the Cochrane community and others to hold business meetings during the Colloquium. Priority will be given to internal Cochrane priority projects, executives and groups. There are several dedicated meeting slots in the programme. These slots are the optimal times for obtaining available meeting rooms:

• Tuesday 22 October, 7.30-8.45am (75min)
• Tuesday 22 October, 1:00-1.45pm (45min)
• Wednesday 23 October, 7.30-8.45am (75min)
• Wednesday 23 October, 1:00-1.45pm (45min)
• Thursday 24 October, 7.30-8.45am (75min)
• Thursday 24 October, 1:00-1.45pm (45min)
• Friday 25 October, 7.30-8.45am (75min)
• Friday 25 October, 1:00-1.45pm (45min)
• Friday 25 October, 1.50-2.50pm (60min)
• Friday 25 October, 2.55-3.55pm (60min)
• Friday 25 October, 4.00-5.00pm (60min)

As meeting requests are submitted and processed, they will be published on the meeting list. When planning your meeting, please refer to the programme overview and the meeting list to avoid conflicts.

The deadline for meeting requests is 6 September 2019.

Colloquium delegates will be able to sign-up for meetings from the 2 October 2019, when the sign-up and schedule launches.

Cochrane is an incredible community of people who all play their part in improving health and healthcare globally. We believe that by putting trusted evidence at the heart of health decisions we can achieve a world of improved health for all. If you share our vision, join our global community today and support Cochrane’s work.

Cochrane’s 13,000 members and over 61,000 supporters come from more than 130 countries, worldwide. Our volunteers and contributors are researchers, health professionals, patients, carers, and people passionate about improving health outcomes for everyone, everywhere.

Becoming a Cochrane member puts you at the heart of our organization. Cochrane membership is an acknowledgement of the contribution made by our global community participating in Cochrane’s work. You cannot pay for Cochrane membership, you earn it through participating in our work – and, it allows you to vote in Cochrane elections and stand for internal governance positions.

If you are already contributing to Cochrane, you can check your membership status here https://join.cochrane.org/your-membership

If you have questions about your status, you can email membership@cochrane.org

Following the news of Karla Soares-Weiser’s appointment as the new Editor in Chief of the Cochrane Library, which was the Governing Board’s principal focus at the Governance Meetings in Krakow earlier this month, the Board is pleased to report on its other main items of business:

1. The Board spent a valuable and important day exploring all of the issues surrounding the future publishing contract for the Cochrane Library
An open tender process will be launched in May inviting potential future publishing partners to bid for the rights to publish the Library beginning January 2021. The Board focused on three main themes linked to this decision: Cochrane’s future financial sustainability; our open access and accessibility ambitions; and our Cochrane Library product & operational strategy. It was agreed what the Governing Board oversight and involvement of the process should be; the organizational aims and objectives of the future publishing arrangements; and the criteria which will be applied in evaluating the competing bids. These strategic discussions gave all Board members an excellent foundation to inform its involvement in the process over the next six months, including final consideration of the special Project Board’s recommendation in September 2019. The Board recognized it is important to keep the Cochrane community well informed on the future publishing contract process throughout this period; and further communications on it will follow.

2. The Board and the Senior Management Team discussed the new format of the Governance Meetings, which were based around extended cross-group strategic sessions made up of the leaders of all Cochrane Group types
All agreed that this new format was a success, with many participants providing feedback that it was far more useful to be able to discuss key issues together as one leadership and management group. The Central Executive Team is currently conducting a survey on the meeting, which you are welcome to complete if you attended, and will use the feedback to inform planning for next year and beyond.

All Cochrane members and supporters are also invited to view a round-up of the meeting activities including videos, pictures, and documents discussed. We are pleased to share with you the opening ceremonies for the Cochrane Governance Meetings 2019. We also have a recording of the Cochrane Review Group Networks Panel. This was an interactive discussion and presentation session on the opportunities and challenges for all Group-types in supporting the continuous improvement of editorial standards for Cochrane Reviews and the development of CRG Networks. Even more videos will be shared in the coming weeks.

3. The contribution of the Cochrane Council at the Governance Meetings was greatly appreciated
It played an important role in securing deeper community involvement and engagement on the strategic priorities discussed during the meetings. It was agreed that, in future, the Board and Council meetings at Governance Meetings and Colloquia should be held on different days, to facilitate interaction between the two and to make it easier for the Senior Management Team to support them during their meetings.

4. The Board commended the success of all Cochrane Groups and the Central Executive Team in delivering on the organization’s strategic priorities in 2018
CEO Mark Wilson and Editor in Chief David Tovey reported to the Board and Cochrane Group leaders at the opening strategic session of the Governance meetings (View Mark's PowerPoint presentation and David's PowerPoint presentation. See the 2018 final report on the delivery of the Strategy to 2020 Targets for 2018 on the Cochrane Community website here). The delays to the delivery of an integrated technology workflow for Cochrane Review production were noted and the Board is confident in the plan in place to complete this project in 2019.

It was also recognized that this year’s plan to run a tender process for a Cochrane Library publisher from 2021 may impact on Central Executive Team’s capacity to support the delivery of some of Cochrane’s organizational 2019 Targets. This situation will be monitored closely to ensure that everyone has the appropriate support.

5. The presentations made by the Senior Editors of the new CRG Networks at the strategic sessions were excellent
You can view recordings of both the presentations and the question and answer period. The Board is particularly excited by the possibility of closer interaction between these Networks and Geographic Groups in developing priorities for review production and training, which were a key theme of the discussions.

Karla Soares-Weiser reported back to the Board on the positive impact the new Support Fellows provided to the Networks through funding from the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The Board recognized that, as expected, the Networks are at different stages of their development, but that each is working hard to deliver their own strategic plan.

6. The Board approved a new way of managing organizational risk for the organization
This new way of managing organizational risk provides clearer ‘ownership’ of different organizational risks, managed by the Senior Management Team who report back to the Board at each of our meetings.

7. A working sub-group of the Board will be established to look into some important issues related to Cochrane Colloquia
There is strong interest in ensuring that Cochrane Groups in Low- and-Middle Income Countries and/or those that might not normally consider hosting a Colloquium, feel able to do so as an important opportunity to build capacity for Cochrane activities all over the world.

8. Several important decisions were also made on Board membership
Catherine Marshall was formally re-appointed as Treasurer following her re-appointment to the Board; Tracey Howe was thanked for her contribution as Treasurer in the interim period. Marguerite Koster reported that she plans to step down from her position as Board Co-Chair at the end of August due to increased commitments at her job with Kaiser Permanente in Southern California. The Board recorded its grateful thanks to her and will run an open appointments process for a new Co-Chair within the next few months.

The Board also decided to re-appoint Martin Burton as Co-Chair for one more year, to September 2020. Martin may only serve one more year – rather than the normal two – as he will reach the six-year limit on Board membership, as specified by Cochrane’s Articles of Association, in 2020. It was agreed that staggering the appointments of Co-Chairs is important for Board stability and continuity of decision-making.

Finally, the Board agreed to invest more resources in recruiting a Board member from a Low-and Middle-Income Country by engaging the support of an external recruitment agency with experience in sourcing Board members for charities. 

In closing the meeting, the Board once again recorded its sincere thanks to outgoing Editor in Chief David Tovey for his outstanding contributions to Cochrane over the past decade.

The full Minutes from the Board’s meeting in Krakow will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you are welcome to read all the open access supporting documents on the Cochrane Community website.

Yours sincerely,

Cochrane Governing Board

Martin Burton (Co-Chair)

Marguerite Koster(Co-Chair)

Cochrane’s status as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) was renewed at WHO’s Executive Board meeting in January 2019.

Cochrane’s official relation status gives us the right to appoint a representative to participate, without vote, in WHO’s meetings – including at the World Health Assembly, WHO’s decision-making body – allowing us to make expository statements on WHO health resolutions.

Our plan of work for the next three years focuses on providing WHO with evidence syntheses that will help inform guidelines, the essential medicines list and other technical guidance. In addition, we will offer methodological assistance, training on how to interpret evidence syntheses, and support activities that facilitate the use of evidence in policymaking at country, regional and global levels.

The ongoing partnership with WHO is underpinned by the enthusiasm and hard work of members of the Cochrane community – so a big thank you to everyone who has engaged in these activities.

Recent highlights from the Cochrane–WHO partnership
•    Eleven Cochrane Reviews inform a WHO guideline on digital healthcare guideline
•    Cochrane at the WHO: EVIPNet and the European Advisory Committee on Health Research
•    Cochrane at the WHO: Department of Reproductive Health and Research’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Group
•    Cochrane at the WHO: Identifying and charting the impact of Cochrane evidence
•    Collaborating with WHO for evidence-informed nutrition guidelines
•    Cochrane Evidence used in new WHO guideline on intrapartum care for a positive birth experience
•    Cochrane and WHO meet to discuss how to improve their long-standing partnership

Do you work with WHO?
We would also like to know about your engagements with WHO – in meetings, expert groups, or other projects – allowing us to build on all existing connections and make the most of this strategic partnership.

Please get in touch with Emma Thompson, Advocacy and Partnership Officer at Cochrane, about your work with WHO so that we can help publicise these activities.

Cochrane 2019 Governance Meetings, Krakow, Poland
Tuesday 2 April 26, 2019
Cochrane Review Group (CRG) Networks strategic session

This interactive session was planned to present the strategic developments of CRG Networks and to support wider engagement with the Cochrane community by providing a place for transparent discussion between groups in the community and the CRG Networks.

The session was moderated by Karla Soares-Weiser (Deputy Editor in Chief) and Sally Green (Co-Director of Cochrane Australia and Governing Board member) with a panel of Senior Editors introducing the Networks and their two-year strategic plans. This was followed by a Q&A from the community members. The Q&A focused on the following areas: priority setting, advocacy, KT, implementation of new methods, sharing experience, and capacity development.

We hope you will enjoy watching this session and look forward to hear your thoughts…

• CRG Networks Strategic Session Programme
• Round-up of all Cochrane 2019 Governance Meetings
   

Our best wishes,

Cochrane's CRG Network Senior Editors:

Lisa Bero – Public Health and Health Services Network
Robert Boyle – Children and Families Network
Michael Brown –Acute and Critical Care Network and Circulation & Breathing Network
Chris Eccleston – Mental Health and Neurosciences Network
Cindy Farquhar – Abdomen and Endocrine Network
Nicole Skoetz – Cancer Network
Peter Tugwell -  Musculoskeletal, Oral, Skin and Sensory Network

The March for Science is organising an international Day of Action on Saturday 4 May, 2019.
 

Over the last two years, the global March for Science movement has organized 1,000 events and mobilized millions of people to support science and justice. This year, the March for Science will highlight the need for science-based climate action and healthcare, as well as the importance of science education.
 

A large flagship march is being organised in New York City, with satellite marches and events, such as science town halls, rallies and outreach events, taking place in cities around the world on the same day.
 

As an official partner of March for Science, Cochrane encourages our contributors and colleagues to get involved in participating in or planning a March for Science event in your area.

Get informed about what’s happening

Check the March for Science website to learn more about the March’s mission and values, or to find a march or event near you.
 

Promote your involvement and the March for Science

Post or retweet news on social media using the #MarchforScience2019 and #May4Science hashtags. Share information about a local march or event with your local networks – your Cochrane colleagues, your host institutions, local partners, or other groups that you work with or are involved in.

Join March for Science Cochrane Crowd's classification challenge
Cochrane Crowd, Cochrane’s citizen science platform, is a global community made up of volunteers who are helping to identify the research needed to support informed decision-making about healthcare treatments. Cochrane Crowd is hosting 1 hour screening challenge 10-11am BST on 4 May and efforts will contribute to the goal of 3 million classifications. This is a perfect virtual event for those wanting to participate in the March for Science but don't have have a local event to attend! No experience necessary and all are welcome to join. Read more about the March for Science Classification Challenge!
 

Get involved!

Want to find out if there's a satellite march or event near you? Check the listing of registered marches and events and register to attend.
 

Reach out to local March for Science organizers ­– let them know that you work with an official partner organization and offer to help get involved in planning. Are you or a Cochrane colleague in your area willing to speak publicly about the key role that science plays in society and how it affects critical issues in your region? Consider liaising on getting Cochrane contributors included as event speakers or spokespeople. Don’t forget to review our Spokesperson policy for guidance, and please contact Jo Anthony with any questions or for support on developing messages.
 

Find out if your local event is scheduled to have an exhibition space or interactive activities. This is a great promotion activity for Cochrane Centres!

If you’re marching

Take photos of you and your poster for social media. Please share them with us as we will have a round-up news item after the Day of Action. You can also use the official March for Science posters.
 

Questions or suggestions?

If you’ve got questions or other ideas on getting involved and making the March a success worldwide, please contact us; we’ll be updating this resources page with ideas, resources, and news right up to 4 May.

The Governance Meetings provide the main annual opportunity for Cochrane’s senior leaders and Group managers to come together to learn about and discuss organizational priorities, challenges and opportunities. Each year they are hosted by a different Cochrane Group. The 2019 Cochrane Governance Meetings were hosted by Cochrane Poland in Krakow on 1-5 April.

We are pleased to share with you the opening ceremonies for the Cochrane Governance Meetings 2019.

0:00 - 0:35 Welcome - Martin Burton, Governing Board Co-Chair
0:36 - 1:53 Opening Speech from Host - Professor Rafal Olszanecki, Cochrane Poland
1:54 - 18:38  Governing Board Co-Chairs - Martin Burton and Marguerite Koster
18:39 - 34:30 Meeting our Mission - Mark Wilson, CEO (View PowerPoint slides)
34:31 - 1:00:42 Editor in Chief Report - David Tovey, Editor in Chief (View PowerPoint slides)
1:00:43 -1:08:24 Cochrane Council Co-Chairs Update - Miranda Langendam and Fergus Macbeth
1:08:25 - 1:16:08  Question Period (referenced article by Trish Greenhalgh)

Following these opening remarks there was a full day of cross-group strategic sessions on Tuesday 2 April and a half-day on the morning of Wednesday 3 April (download full program). Documents that were discussed during these sessions include:

• Principles of Collaboration - Draft for consultation
• CRG Networks Panel programme
• Authorship of Cochrane Reviews - from the Cochrane Council
• Recruiting and retaining skilled authors for Cochrane Reviews - from the Senior Management Team

Cochrane Review Group Networks Panel Discussion

This was an interactive discussion and presentation session on the opportunities and challenges for all Group-types in supporting the continuous improvement of editorial standards for Cochrane Reviews and the development of CRG Networks.
 

Pictures: You can view and download pictures from the Governance Meeting from our Dropbox Folder.

Summary of the meetings:

• Message from the Governing Board
• Cochrane Croatia shares their experience
• Cochrane Rehabilitation provides a summary

Did you attend the meetings? We would like to find out how you found this year's Governance Meetings and how we can improve them further for when we meet again next year in Manchester, UK.  We hope that this survey is an opportunity to collect suggestions on how we can better work together and how we can create Governance Meetings that are collaborative and productive. Your honest feedback is important in helping to improve future meetings. Your name and department will not be collected and your answers are confidential. If you were an attendee of the Krakow meetings, please take five minutes to complete the survey by Friday 3 May. We will review the answers and report back to the Cochrane Council and Board in May.

Would you like like to discuss the Governance Meetings further? All Cochrane Members can provide feedback on the Governance Meetings on the Cochrane Forums (topic: Governance > Governance Meetings 2019).