Working groups

COVID-END has convened working groups to achieve and document quick-wins, and to establish processes to achieve and document longer-term wins, in seven areas:

  1. scoping where support and coordination is most needed and what principles should underpin such support and coordination
  2. prioritizing topics for which living syntheses (and guidelines) are most needed and who can maintain them accessing and supporting the use of best-in-class repositories of evidence syntheses and guidelines
  3. accessing best-in-class repositories of evidence syntheses and guidelines
  4. engaging institutions and people supporting decision-makers (including patients and citizens) to share information, tools and resources in a centralized manner to facilitate timely responses to decision makers’ needs
  5. recommending evidence-based approaches - in the context of both technology assessments and guidelines – in ways that are more coordinated and efficient and that balance quality and timeliness
  6. sustaining and strengthening systems, institutions and methods can be strengthened and sustained to enable evidence synthesis to most effectively serve its key role in the evidence ecosystem so that we are even better prepared for future pandemics and other challenges
  7. advocating for what needs to be done differently to better prepare us for future societal challenges

COVID-END has three additional working groups ‘on stand-by’ that, after a series of important achievements and now much-needed rest, can take on exciting new opportunities to make a difference.

  1. digitizing as many aspects of the work as possible to facilitate coordination and capture efficiencies
  2. synthesizing the evidence that already exists in ways that are more coordinated and efficient and that balance quality and timeliness
  3. packaging evidence and guidelines in ways that meet the needs of citizens, providers, policymakers and researchers in different contexts and languages

COVID-END has two task groups that contribute in ways that cut across our working groups:

  1. equity task group identifies opportunities for COVID-END to incorporate equity considerations in its work
  2. citizen partnership task group identifies opportunities for COVID-END to incorporate meaningful citizen partnership in its work
If you would like to better understand what COVID-END is doing to help those already supporting decision-making to find and use the best evidence that is already out there (i.e., to support the evidence-demand side) and to help reduce duplication in and better coordinate the evidence syntheses, technology assessment and guidelines being produced (i.e., to support the evidence supply side), check out our working group webpages. You’ll find their terms of reference, co-chairs and members, and all of their meeting materials.