You have found your research articles and now you need to read and evaluate them.  This is when your critical appraisal skills are required. 

These skills need to be learned and the CASP checklists can get you started.  The checklists come from the UK Critical Appraisal Skills Programme which allows free use under the Creative Commons license. 

There are eight critical appraisal tools including tools for Systematic reviews, Randomised controlled trials, Cohort studies, Case control studies, Economic evaluations, Diagnostic studies, Qualitative studies and Clinical prediction rule.

One person, one team, one system : report of the Independent Commission on Whole Person Care for the Labour Party / Chairman: John Oldman.  2014.

This new (UK) report sets out a blueprint for bringing health and care services into the 21st century.  A key recommendation of the report is greater involvement of patients in planning their own care, together with a personal care coordinator to advocate on their behalf ... the report also suggests that the current payment system, which incentivises episodes of care and admission to hospital, needs to change to one based on capitation payments for a year of care, which would enable more care at home.  Read more about the report in an editorial in the latest BMJ (Library barcode no. and PIN required if outside of Austin Health).

The Victorian Government has now introduced the Mental Health Bill 2014 into Parliament and it is expected to be passed and proclaimed by July 2014.  (In the meantime the Mental Health Act 1986 remains the law).

The Bill involves significant changes to compulsory assessment and treatment of people living with mental illness. It will ensure that people living with mental illness and subject to compulsory treatment are supported to make or participate in decisions about their treatment and care. The Bill also recognises the important role of families and carers in supporting the recovery of people living with mental illness.

A summary of the reforms in the Bill is available in The Mental Health Bill 2014 - An explanatory guide.

A digitally-enabled health system / Sarah Dods ... et al.  CSIRO Digital Productivity and Services, 2014.

This report outlines the major issues currently faced by Australian healthcare, and the digital remedies that could move our healthcare system forward. 

Some of the technology identified in the report includes telepresence robots taking rural health workers on city rounds, wireless ID wristbands monitoring patients in real time, mobile health apps assisting with at-home rehab and smart software that knows what patients will be turning up to emergency departments, 6-12 months in advance.

Analgesia, anaesthesia and pregnancy : a practical guide / Steve Yentis and Surbhi Malhotra.  3rd ed.  Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Essentials of clinical immunology / Helen Chapel ... et al.  6th ed.  Wiley Blackwell, 2014.

Indigenous Australians and health : the wombat in the room / edited by Ron Hampton and Maree Toombs.  Oxford University Press, 2013.

Introduction to critical care nursing / edited by Mary Lou Sole, Deborah G. Klein and Marthe J. Moseley.  6th ed.  Elsevier, 2013.

New books on display may be reserved - call 9496 5393.

Note:  the links below provide access to the tables of contents, not necessarily the full text.  Full text may be retrieved from the A-Z Journal list (outside of Austin Health you will need your Library barcode no. and PIN)

American heart journal.  Vol. 167, no. 3, March 2014

American journal of cardiology.  Vol. 113, no. 7, 1 April 2014

Annals of thoracic surgery.  Vol. 97, no. 3, March 2014

Australian prescriber.  Vol. 37, no. 2, April 2014

Bioethics outlook.  Vol. 25, no. 1, March 2014

Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology.  Vol. 11, no. 11, November 2013; Vol. 11, no. 12, December 2013

Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics & gynecology.  Vol. 35, no. 1, March 2014

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.  Vol. 53, no. 3, March 2014

Journal of the American College of Cardiology.  Vol. 63, no. 9, 11 March 2014

Journal of vascular surgery.  Vol. 59, no. 3, March 2014

Lancet.  Vol. 383, no. 9922, 22-28 March, 2014

Nature.  Vol. 507, no. 7492, 20 March 2014

New England journal of medicine.  Vol. 370, no. 13, 27 March 2014

Neonatal network : the journal of neonatal nursing.  Vol. 33, no. 2, March/April 2014

Seminars in oncology.  Vol. 41, no. 1, February 2014 (Lung cancer : a decade of progress); Vol. 41, no. 1, Suppl. 1, February 2014 (Paving the way for biosimilars in oncology, pt. 2: Focus on safety and clinical trial considerations)