Evidence Reviews for Health & Social Care

A good research topic is:

• Specific (not too broad or vague)
• Researchable (can be answered with evidence)
• Relevant (to your field)

Before continuing, you need to check if a review has been recently or currently carried out on your question that you're thinking of.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by searching in PubMed and limit to reviews, systematic reviews

If your research question idea already exists:

• Is it more than 7-10 years old? Would it be beneficial to do an updated review?
• Can you think of a different angle e.g. home setting or acute setting? different age group? 
• Are there any gaps in current research that you can investigate?

Have a look in Cochrane for current research as well as published research.

Cochrane Library 

The Cochrane Library is designed to supply evidence about the clinical effectiveness of health care interventions for those providing and receiving care, and those responsible for research, teaching, funding and administration at all levels. It includes: 
1) The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) - Regularly updated reviews of the effects of health care. 
2) Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) - Critical assessments and structured abstracts of good systematic reviews published elsewhere. 
3) The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR) - Bibliographic information on controlled trials (RCTs). 
4) Other sources of information on the science of reviewing research and evidence-based health care.
The Cochrane Library is freely available to users in the UK. Information about international access rights 
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