1.5 Bridging gaps in health information: developing and validating a tool for the assessment of information for laypeople with input from patient representatives, healthcare providers, and methodologists
| Wednesday, September 17, 2025 |
| 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM |
| Room K |
Speaker
Miss Anne-Catherine Vanhove
Cebam vzw
Bridging gaps in health information: developing and validating a tool for the assessment of information for laypeople with input from patient representatives, healthcare providers, and methodologists
Abstract
Background: Laypeople need reliable information to make health decisions, but how can healthcare professionals help patients navigate available information? Assessing health information is crucial to bridging the gap between high-quality information and laypeople. Existing tools often lack comprehensive evaluation criteria, prompting the development of a new tool to assess the quality of health information for laypeople. To ensure its validity and applicability, we are bringing together patient representatives, healthcare practitioners, and methodologists for the validation process.
Objective: This workshop provides participants with an overview of existing assessment tools and key insights into developing new ones. Additionally, participants will actively contribute to the development and validation of a new assessment tool for layperson-directed health information.
Format: The workshop follows a structured, interactive approach, integrating the Delphi consensus method with hands-on practice.
1. Introduction: Overview of existing tools, their strengths, and limitations, followed by an introduction to the new tool.
2. Polling and discussion: Participants anonymously provide feedback on proposed domains and criteria through online polling and open-ended questions. Results are discussed in real-time.
3. Interactive group work: Participants collaboratively evaluate health information sources using preliminary criteria from the new tool, focusing on relevance, clarity, and applicability.
4. Second polling and discussion: A second round of anonymous polling refines the tool’s criteria based on group discussions. Results are discussed.
5. Q&A and conclusion: Open discussion on key takeaways, challenges, and next steps for validation and implementation.
This workshop fosters interdisciplinary collaboration to develop a robust tool for evaluating health information for laypeople.
Objective: This workshop provides participants with an overview of existing assessment tools and key insights into developing new ones. Additionally, participants will actively contribute to the development and validation of a new assessment tool for layperson-directed health information.
Format: The workshop follows a structured, interactive approach, integrating the Delphi consensus method with hands-on practice.
1. Introduction: Overview of existing tools, their strengths, and limitations, followed by an introduction to the new tool.
2. Polling and discussion: Participants anonymously provide feedback on proposed domains and criteria through online polling and open-ended questions. Results are discussed in real-time.
3. Interactive group work: Participants collaboratively evaluate health information sources using preliminary criteria from the new tool, focusing on relevance, clarity, and applicability.
4. Second polling and discussion: A second round of anonymous polling refines the tool’s criteria based on group discussions. Results are discussed.
5. Q&A and conclusion: Open discussion on key takeaways, challenges, and next steps for validation and implementation.
This workshop fosters interdisciplinary collaboration to develop a robust tool for evaluating health information for laypeople.
Paper Number
157
Biography
Anne-Catherine Vanhove works at the Belgian Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, also known as Cebam. She is active in three of their units: Cochrane Belgium, Validation, and Evaluation. As a systematic review expert for Cochrane Belgium, she teaches various courses on topics such as evidence-based medicine and systematic reviews, provides methodological support to systematic review authors, and disseminates results from Cochrane reviews. For the Validation team, she is a methodological expert in the validation of guidelines and evidence-based practice sources. For the Evaluation team, she primarily focuses on measuring the culture of evidence-based practice among citizens and healthcare providers.
Mrs Gerlinde Lenaerts
Cebam vzw
Workshop Facilitator
Paper Number
0
Biography
Gerlinde Lenaerts is Associate Director of Cebam, the Belgian Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, where she provides strategic oversight across all teams. With degrees in kinesiology and biomedical engineering, she conducted biomechanics research in academia and industry. Since 2018, she has coordinated Cebam’s Validation Unit, contributed as a methodologist to the validation of guidelines and EBP resources, and taught in Cebam’s training programs. She led the development of CAPOCI, a validation tool for EBP information for healthcare professionals, and now supports the development of a similar instrument for patient information.
Mrs Catherine Pétein
Cebam vzw
Workshop Co-chair
Paper Number
0
Biography
Catherine Pétein trained as a nurse and gained around ten years of professional experience before earning a Master’s in Public Health in 2017. She then pursued a PhD in Public Health, which she completed in 2024, focusing on deprescribing benzodiazepines in older adults. Since September 2024, she has worked as a methodological expert in the Validation Unit at Cebam, supporting the validation of guidelines and EBP sources. She also continues her research part-time at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), where she furthers her work on benzodiazepine deprescribing.
