Review question | Input | Technique | Output |
---|---|---|---|
What is the effectiveness of the ECHO Model on healthcare professionals and patients’ outcomes? (QUAN question) | Informal evidence: ECHO programs’ components/characteristics (from QUAN studies and QUAN component of MM studies) QUAN results: Critical outcome: Competency development Important outcomes: Corresponding to Kirkpatrick’s four levels of program evaluation (reaction, knowledge, behavior, and results) | Descriptive synthesis and meta-analysis (QUAN synthesis) | - Description of ECHO programs’ components/characteristics - Effect size measures of ECHO programs on critical and important outcomes |
What are the experiences/views of ECHO’s participants, including both mentees and mentors, about what influences the development of competencies in healthcare professionals? (QUAL question) | Informal evidence: ECHO programs’ components/characteristics (from QUAL studies and QUAL component of MM studies) QUAL results: Experiences/views of ECHO’s participants about what influences the development of their competencies (from QUAL studies and QUAL component of MM studies) | Descriptive and thematic synthesis (QUAL synthesis) | - Description of ECHO programs’ components/characteristics - Themes relating to what influences the development of competencies in healthcare professionals participating in ECHO |
What can be inferred from the QUAL synthesis on the experiences/views of ECHO’s participants that can explain the ECHO Model effectiveness in developing healthcare professionals’ competencies? (MM question) | Resultant QUAN and QUAL findings (from QUAN, QUAL and MM studies) | Juxtaposition of findings using a matrix approach (MM synthesis) for the purpose of exploring the correspondence between the ECHO Model effectiveness (QUAN synthesis) and the experiences/views about what influences the development of competencies in healthcare professionals (that we aim to gather from the QUAL synthesis) | MM inferences providing an overall interpretation of what is associated with the ECHO Model success (or failure) in developing healthcare professionals’ competencies |