Facilitating knowledge transfer to policy makers and front-line workers during a pandemic: Implementation, impact and lessons learned.

BACKGROUND: Stakeholders working on the COVID-19 pandemic response needed access to evidence, requiring a systematic approach to identify and disseminate relevant research. OBJECTIVES: Outline the stages of development of a COVID-19 Literature Digest; demonstrate the impact the Digest had on decision-making and knowledge gain; identify the lessons learned. METHODS: A standardised process was developed to identify and select papers. The main sources for content were PubMed, bioRxiv and medRxiv. A shared EndNote library was used to deduplicate and organise papers. Three user surveys obtained feedback from subscribers to determine if the Digest remained valuable, and explore the benefits to individuals. RESULTS: 40-60 papers were summarised each week. 211 Digests were produced from March 2020 to March 2022, with around 10,000 papers included altogether. Survey results suggest benefits of the Digest were gaining new knowledge, saving time and contributing to evidence-based decision making. DISCUSSION: Digest procedures constantly evolved and were adapted in response to survey feedback. Lessons identified: learn from failure, communication is key, measure your impact, work collaboratively, reflect and be flexible. CONCLUSION: The Digest was successfully produced within the limits of available resource. The learning from this Digest will inform evidence monitoring, selection and dissemination for future health crises.

Working in partnership to strengthen health librarianship - Shane Godbolt's legacy.

This paper focuses on Shane Godbolt's commitment to international librarianship and global health and her guiding principles for international working. The authors examine and celebrate how these have been applied in practice, impacting many.

Is dual use of nicotine products and cigarettes associated with smoking reduction and cessation behaviours? A prospective study in England.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations of dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes with subsequent quitting activity (smoking reduction, quit attempts and use of evidence-based cessation aids). To overcome potential confounding by factors associated with use of pharmacological support, we selected dual use of over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy (OTC NRT) and cigarettes as a behavioural control. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with 6-month follow-up. SETTING: England, 2014-2016. PARTICIPANTS: 413 current smokers participating in the Smoking Toolkit Study, a representative survey of adults in England, who reported current use of e-cigarettes or OTC NRT and provided data at 6-month follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The exposure was dual use of e-cigarettes or OTC NRT at baseline. Outcomes were change in cigarette consumption, quit attempts and use of evidence-based cessation aids during quit attempts over 6-month follow-up. Relevant sociodemographic and smoking characteristics were included as covariates. RESULTS: After adjustment for covariates, dual e-cigarette users smoked two fewer cigarettes per day at follow-up than at baseline compared with dual OTC NRT users (B=2.01, 95% CI -3.62; -0.39, p=0.015). While dual e-cigarette users had 18% lower odds than dual OTC NRT users to make a quit attempt at follow-up (risk ratio (RR) 0.82, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.00, p=0.049), the groups did not differ in use of cessation aids (RR 1.06, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.21, p=0.388). CONCLUSIONS: Dual use of e-cigarettes is associated with a greater reduction in cigarette consumption than dual use of OTC NRT. It may discourage a small proportion of users from making a quit attempt compared with dual OTC NRT use but it does not appear to undermine use of evidence-based cessation aids.