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Establishing a library of resources to help people understand key concepts in assessing treatment claims—The “Critical thinking and Appraisal Resource Library” (CARL)

Author

Listed:
  • John C Castle
  • Iain Chalmers
  • Patricia Atkinson
  • Douglas Badenoch
  • Andrew D Oxman
  • Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren
  • Lena Nordheim
  • L Kendall Krause
  • Lisa M Schwartz
  • Steven Woloshin
  • Amanda Burls
  • Paola Mosconi
  • Tammy Hoffmann
  • Leila Cusack
  • Loai Albarqouni
  • Paul Glasziou

Abstract

Background: People are frequently confronted with untrustworthy claims about the effects of treatments. Uncritical acceptance of these claims can lead to poor, and sometimes dangerous, treatment decisions, and wasted time and money. Resources to help people learn to think critically about treatment claims are scarce, and they are widely scattered. Furthermore, very few learning-resources have been assessed to see if they improve knowledge and behavior. Objectives: Our objectives were to develop the Critical thinking and Appraisal Resource Library (CARL). This library was to be in the form of a database containing learning resources for those who are responsible for encouraging critical thinking about treatment claims, and was to be made available online. We wished to include resources for groups we identified as ‘intermediaries’ of knowledge, i.e. teachers of schoolchildren, undergraduates and graduates, for example those teaching evidence-based medicine, or those communicating treatment claims to the public. In selecting resources, we wished to draw particular attention to those resources that had been formally evaluated, for example, by the creators of the resource or independent research groups. Methods: CARL was populated with learning-resources identified from a variety of sources—two previously developed but unmaintained inventories; systematic reviews of learning-interventions; online and database searches; and recommendations by members of the project group and its advisors. The learning-resources in CARL were organised by ‘Key Concepts’ needed to judge the trustworthiness of treatment claims, and were made available online by the James Lind Initiative in Testing Treatments interactive (TTi) English (www.testingtreatments.org/category/learning-resources).TTi English also incorporated the database of Key Concepts and the Claim Evaluation Tools developed through the Informed Healthcare Choices (IHC) project (informedhealthchoices.org). Results: We have created a database of resources called CARL, which currently contains over 500 open-access learning-resources in a variety of formats: text, audio, video, webpages, cartoons, and lesson materials. These are aimed primarily at ‘Intermediaries’, that is, ‘teachers’, ‘communicators’, ‘advisors’, ‘researchers’, as well as for independent ‘learners’. The resources included in CARL are currently accessible at www.testingtreatments.org/category/learning-resources Conclusions: We hope that ready access to CARL will help to promote the critical thinking about treatment claims, needed to help improve healthcare choices.

Suggested Citation

  • John C Castle & Iain Chalmers & Patricia Atkinson & Douglas Badenoch & Andrew D Oxman & Astrid Austvoll-Dahlgren & Lena Nordheim & L Kendall Krause & Lisa M Schwartz & Steven Woloshin & Amanda Burls &, 2017. "Establishing a library of resources to help people understand key concepts in assessing treatment claims—The “Critical thinking and Appraisal Resource Library” (CARL)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-12, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0178666
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178666
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lena V Nordheim & Malene W Gundersen & Birgitte Espehaug & Øystein Guttersrud & Signe Flottorp, 2016. "Effects of School-Based Educational Interventions for Enhancing Adolescents Abilities in Critical Appraisal of Health Claims: A Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Sillence, Elizabeth & Briggs, Pam & Harris, Peter Richard & Fishwick, Lesley, 2007. "How do patients evaluate and make use of online health information?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1853-1862, May.
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