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Guidelines development process

How living guidelines work

The living guidelines use ‘evidence surveillance’ systems that continually scan for relevant new research, incorporate it into evidence summaries and rapidly update guideline recommendations whenever there is a substantial change in the evidence.

The ultimate goal is to create a near real-time, closed-loop evidence system in which global evidence and local data are integrated for insight and health decision making.

This work will be supported by new evidence systems from Cochrane Australia, including artificial intelligence, the Cochrane Crowd citizen science community, and the Covidence online systematic review platform.

Guideline recommendations will continue to be developed and published using the MAGICapp platform.

Diagram of how the evidence summaries turn newly published research and clinical practice data into updated recommendations, which then feed into clinical practice and policy

Further general, non-technical information about guideline development is documented in our Living Guidelines Methods and Processes [PDF 554 KB].

Living guideline methods are also described in our paper, Feasibility of national living guideline methods: The Australian Stroke Guidelines, published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.

(Hill K, English C, Campbell BCV, McDonald S, Pattuwage L, Bates P, Lassig C, Turner T; Living Stroke Guidelines Executive Group and Content Development Group. Feasibility of national living guideline methods: The Australian Stroke Guidelines. J Clin Epidemiol. 2022 Feb;142:184-193. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.11.020. Epub 2021 Nov 14. PMID: 34785347).

Guideline process documents

The 2016 NHMRC Standards for Guidelines outline requirements to document all guideline development processes, which are submitted for approval along with changes to recommendations.

Technical reports

A record of the evidence review process for our living stroke guidelines is now detailed in MAGICapp.

For each topic, you can view the clinical questions, PICO (population, intervention, comparator and outcomes), included references, evidence profile and summary. These feed into the rationale and evidence to decision for each recommendation, outlining benefits and harms, certainty of the evidence, preferences and values, and resources and other considerations.

To see these details, follow the links to topics in the Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management, and click the tabs below each recommendation.

Administrative reports

Administrative reports are also produced for each guideline update submitted to NHMRC, with information specific to the topics updated. This includes which members of the Content Development Group were involved, and any conflicts of interest they have reported.

Public consultation submission summaries

Details of public consultation submissions and our responses are documented for each guideline update submitted to NHMRC.

People involved in guideline development

The following tables list members of our Executive Project Group, Content Development Group (comprising a Steering Committee, ten Working Groups and a Consumer Panel), and Project Development Team. Further information on project governance is in the Administrative Report above.

Terms of reference for the Living Guidelines Content Development Group (PDF 101 KB)

Executive Project Group

Title	Name	Role	Organisation
Ms	Sharon McGowan (Chair)	Chief Executive Officer	Stroke Foundation
Prof	Bruce Campbell	Neurologist and Research Fellow	The Royal Melbourne Hospital
Assoc Prof	Julian Elliott	Senior Research Fellow	Cochrane Australia
Prof	Coralie English	Associate Professor, Physiotherapy	University of Newcastle
Prof	Sally Green	Co-Director	Cochrane Australia
Mr	Kelvin Hill	National Manager, Clinical Services	Stroke Foundation
Mr	Steve McDonald	Co-Director and leader of Project Transform	Cochrane Australia
Ms	Jennifer Muller	Chair, Consumer Council	Stroke Foundation
Dr	Lisa Murphy	Executive Director, Stroke Services	Stroke Foundation
Dr	Tari Turner	Senior Research Fellow on Project Transform	Cochrane Australia

Content Steering Committee

Title	Name	Discipline	Role	Organisation	Working Group
Prof	Bruce Campbell (Co-Chair)	Neurology	Neurologist and Research Fellow	The Royal Melbourne Hospital	Acute Medical
Prof	Coralie English (Co-Chair)	Physiotherapy	Associate Professor, Physiotherapy	University of Newcastle	Physiotherapy
Prof	Dominique Cadilhac	Program evaluation and health economics	Head, Translational Public Health Unit	Monash University	Economics
Assoc Prof	Steven Faux	Rehabilitation	Rehabilitation physician	St Vincent's Hospital	Rehabilitation Medicine
Prof	Maree Hackett	Psychology	Head, Mental Health and Chronic Disease Program, Neurological & Mental Health Division	The George Institute for Global Health	Psychology
Prof	Natasha Lannin	Occupational therapy	Researcher and lecturer	La Trobe Uni	Occupational Therapy
Prof	Sandy Middleton	Nursing	Director, Nursing Research Institute	SVHA & ACU Nursing Research Institute	Nursing
Dr	Lisa Murphy	NSF Policy	Director, Programs	NSF	Other
Prof	Anna Ranta	Neurologist	Consultant neurologist	Capital & Coast District Health Board	Acute Medical
Dr	Fiona Simpson	Dietetics	Clinical Specialist & Research Dietitian & Clinical Senior Lecturer	Sydney University	Dietetics
Prof	Nigel Stocks	General Practice	Discipline of General Practice	Adelaide Uni	Rehabilitation Medicine
Dr	Rachel Wenke	Speech pathology	Senior speech pathologist/Research fellow	Gold Coast Health	Speech Pathology

Content Working Groups

Title	Name	Discipline	Role	Organisation	Working Group
A/Prof	Amal Abou-Hamden	Vascular neurosurgery	Vascular neurosurgery	Royal Adelaide Hospital	Acute Medical
Dr	Sabine Allida	Psychology	Research assistant	The George Institute for Global Health	Psychology
A/Prof	Nadine Andrew	Physiotherapy	NHMRC Research Fellow	Monash University	Physiotherapy
Prof	Beata Bajorek	Pharmacy	Responsible Academic Officer – Clinical	University of Technology	Rehabilitation Medicine
Dr	Marie-Louise Bird	Physiotherapy	Academic Lead Allied Health Discipline, Senior Lecturer	University of Tasmania	Physiotherapy
	Chris Bladin	Ambulance	Director, Victorian Stroke Telemedicine (VST) Service	Ambulance Victoria	Acute Medical
Dr	Kelly Bower	Physiotherapy	Lecturer	Dept of Physiotherapy, Uni of Melb	Physiotherapy
Ms	Kerry Boyle	Nursing	Stroke Coordinator and project officer	Hunter New England Health, Stroke service	Nursing
Assoc Prof	Janet Bray	Nursing	Senior Research Fellow, Associate Director: Australian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (Aus-ROC) - NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence	Monash University	Nursing
Dr	Sonia Brownsett	Speech Pathology	Speech pathology Post doc	QUT	Speech Pathology
Prof	Ken Butcher	Neurosciences	Director of Clinical Neurosciences	Prince of Wales Clinical school, UNSW	Acute Medical
Ms	Liana Cahill	Occupational therapy	Lecturer in Occupational therapy	School of Allied health, Australian Catholic University	Occupational therapy
Dr	Jan Cameron	Public health and evaluation	Senior research fellow	Monash University	Lifestyle modifications topic
Dr	Jessica Campbell	Speech pathology	Postdoctoral research fellow	University of Queensland	Speech Pathology
	Aylissa Canning	Nursing	Clinical Nurse Consultant	Princess Alexandra Hospital	Nursing
Dr	Cecilia Cappelen-Smith	Neurology	Senior Staff Specialist Neurologist	Liverpool Hospital.	Acute Medical
	Kristine Caprecho	Nursing	Stroke Liaison nurse	Calvary Hospital	Nursing
Assoc Prof	Ronil Chandra	Neurointerventional radiology	Neurointerventional radiologist	Monash Health	Acute Medical
Dr	Philip M.C. Choi	Neurology	Consultant Neurologist	Box Hill Hospital	Acute Medical
Ms	Lauren Christie	Occupational therapy	Senior implementation science research fellow - allied health	St Vincent's Hospital Sydney	Occupational therapy
Prof	Natalie Ciccone	Speech Pathology	Course Coordinator, Bachelor of Speech Pathology	Edith Cowan University	Speech Pathology
Assoc Prof	Petrea Cornwell	Speech Pathology	Associate Professor, Speech Pathology	Menzies Health Institute	Speech Pathology
Ms	Kelly Coughlan	Nursing	T3 Trial Assistant	SVHA & ACU Nursing Research Institute	Nursing
Ms	Michelle Courtney-Harris	Orthoptics		University of technology, Sydney	Other
	Shahla Cowans	Nursing	A/g Stroke Liaison Nurse	Canberra Hospital	Nursing
Ms	Simeon Dale	Nursing	Clinical Research Fellow T3 Trial Project Manager	SVHA & ACU Nursing Research Institute	Nursing
	Emily Dalton	Occupational therapy	Occupational therapist / PhD student	University of Melbourne	Occupational therapy
Dr	Davide de Sousa	Physiotherapy	Senior Physiotherapist	Ryde Hospital	Physiotherapy
Ms	Anne-Louise (Annie) Dent	Speech Pathology	Speech Pathologist- Neurosciences	RPA Hospital	Speech Pathology
Dr	Simone Dorsch	Physiotherapy	Lectureer in Physiotherapy	Australian Catholic University	Physiotherapy
Ms	Dijana Dragicevich (Wolffram)	Speech Pathology	Senior Speech Pathologist	Royal North Shore Hospital	Speech Pathology
Dr	Caleb Ferguson	Nursing	Director of Post Graduate	Western Sydney Uni	Nursing
Dr	Emma Finch	Speech pathology	Research fellow	University of Queensland	Speech Pathology
Dr	Natalie Fini	Physiotherapy	Academic, Physiotherapy	Uni Melb	Physiotherapy
Dr	Yash Gawarikar	Neurology	Director, Stroke Services	Calvary Hospital	Acute Medical
Prof	Stacey George	Occupational Therapy	Occupational Therapist / Clinical / Academic specialist	Flinders University	Occupational Therapy
A/Prof	Darshan Ghia	Neurology	Consultant Neurologist& Clinical Senior Lecturer	FSH and SJOG Subiaco hospitals UWA School of Medicine and Pharmacology	Acute Medical
Assoc Prof	Erin Godecke	Speech pathology	Clinical Director, Very Early Rehabilitation in SpeEch (VERSE) Trial for Aphasia after Stroke	Edith Cowan University	Speech Pathology
Prof	Jonathan Golledge	Vascular Surgery	Vascular Surgeon	Townsville Hospital	Acute Medical
	Natalie Govind	Nursing	Lecturer, Nursing	University of technology, Sydney	Nursing
Prof	Hugh Grantham	Ambulance	Professor of Paramedics	Researcher Curtin University; Flinders Medical centre	Acute Medical
Dr	Carl Hanger	Geriatrics	Geriatrician	The Princess Margaret Hospital	Rehabilitation Medicine
Mr	Brendon Haslam	Physiotherapy	Physiotherapist - Pain management	University of Melbourne	Central post-stroke pain
Dr	Kate Hayward	Physiotherapy	Snr research fellow in stroke recovery	Dept Physiotherapy, Uni of Melb	Physiotherapy
A/Prof	Deborah Hersh	Speech Pathology	Associate Professor, Speech Pathology	Edith Cowan University	Speech Pathology
Dr	Lyndal Hickey	Social Work	Snr Project officer, Evidence base in family services	Dept Health and Human Services	Other
Dr	Tenelle Hodson	Occupational therapy	Occupational therapist and lecturer	Griffith university	Occupational Therapy
Assoc Prof	Stacey Jankelowitz	Neurology	Clinical Associate Professor	University of Sydney	Acute Medical
Dr	Heidi Janssen	Physiotherapy	Physiotherapist and Researcher	Hunter Medical Research Institute	Physiotherapy
Ms	Donna Jay	Nursing	Clinical Nurse Consultant - Rural Stroke Coordinator	Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital	Nursing
Dr	Laura Jolliffe	Occupational therapy	Graduate researcher, OT	Monash University	Occupational Therapy
Dr	Bindu Joseph	Nursing	Lecturer / Course co-ordinator	Federation University Australia	Nursing
Dr	Joosup Kim	Public health research	Translational Public Health Unit	Monash University	Economics
Mr	Danny Kinsella	Nursing	Neuroscience Nurse Educator	Alfred Hospital	Nursing
Prof	Tim Kleinig	Neurology	Director, Stroke Unit	Royal Adelaide Hospital	Acute Medical
Dr	Sharon Kramer	Physiotherapy	Postdoctoral Researcher and Student Manager AVERT team	Deakin University	Physiotherapy
Ms	Sarah Kuhle	Nursing	Stroke & TIA Coordinator (RN)	Redcliffe Hospital	Nursing
Assoc Prof	John Laidlaw	Neurosurgery	Head of neurovascular disorders clinic	Royal Melbourne Hospital	Acute Medical
	Vicky Lam	Occupational therapy	Occupational therapist	Gold Coast Health	Occupational therapy
A/Prof	Kate Laver	Occupational Therapy	Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Rehabilitation Aged and Extended Care	Flinders University	Occupational Therapy
Ms	Sandra Lever	Nursing	CNC Rehabilitation	Ryde Hospital	Nursing
	Lien Lombardo	Nursing	Registered nurse and Associate research fellow	Western Sydney Nursing & Midwidery Research centre	Nursing
	Madeleine Long	Psychology	Clinical psychologist	St Vincent's hospital, Sydney	Psychology
Mr	Wayne Loudon	Ambulance	Critcal care paramedic, Metro North	Ambulance Metro North - QLD	Acute Medical
Dr	Elizabeth Lynch	Physiotherapy	PhD Candidate	University of SA	Physiotherapy
Ms	Lesley MacDonald-Wicks	Dietetics	Snr lecturer, Nutrition and Dietetics	Uni of Newcastle	Dietetics
Dr	Jodie Marquez	Physiotherapy	Physiotherapist	University of Newcastle	Physiotherapy
Dr	Di Marsden	Physiotherapy	Education	John Hunter Hospital	Physiotherapy
Ms	Judy Martineau	Dietetics	Team Leader Nutrition	Wesley Hospital	Dietetics
Ms	Nikki Mitchell	Nursing	Clinical Nurse Consultant	RPA	Nursing
Prof	Peter Mitchell	Neuro radiology		Royal Melbourne Hospital	Acute Medical
Dr	Ferdinand Miteff	Interventional Neurology	Researcher	University of Newcastle	Acute Medical
Assoc Prof	Prue Morgan	Physiotherapy	Headof Physiotherapy	Monash University	Physiotherapy
	Jessica Morton	Nursing	Registered nurse	Flinders Medical centre	Nursing
Ms	Jo Murray	Speech Pathology	Lecturer, Speech Pathology	Flinders University	Speech Pathology
	Mali Newman-Plant	Social Work	Social worker	Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Service	Social Work
Ms	Brittni Nielsen	Occupational therapy	Occupational therapist	Caulfield hospital	Occcupational therapy
	Jane O'Connell	Occupational therapy	Snr Occupational therapist	Gold Coast Health	Occupational therapy
Mr	Lachlan Parker	Ambulance	Executive Manager – Clinical Policy Development	Queensland Ambulance Service	Acute Medical
Dr	Amanda Patterson	Dietetics	Senior Lecturer; Program Convenor Bachelor Nutrition and Dietetics	Uni of Newcastle	Dietetics
Prof	Thanh Phan	Neurology	Head, Stroke Unit	Monash Medical Centre	Acute Medical
Assoc Prof	Emma Power	Speech Pathology	Lecturer, Speech Pathology	University of Technology, Sydney	Speech Pathology
Dr	Miia Rahja	Public health research	Research Associate - Rehabilitation, Aged and Palliative Care	Flinders University	Occupational Therapy
Dr	Juan Rois	Rehabilitation	Rehabilitation Physician	Ipswich Hospital	Rehabilitation Medicine
Dr	Ramesh Sahathevan	Neurology	Neurologist	Ballarat Health Service	Acute Medical
Dr	Lauren Sanders	Neurology	Stroke Neurologist	St Vincent’s Hospital	Acute Medical
Ms	Danielle Sansonetti	Occupational Therapy	Grade 4 Occupational Therapist	ABI Rehabilitation Centre, Caulfield Hospital	Occupational Therapy
Dr	Emma Schneider	Occupational Therapy	Senior Occupational Therapist	Caulfield Hospital	Occupational Therapy
Mr	Karl Schurr	Physiotherapy	Senior Physiotherapist	Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital	Physiotherapy
Dr	Alana Schuurs	Psychology	Senior Clinical and Health Psychologist	Gold Coast Health	Psychology
Dr	Kate Scrivener	Physiotherapy	Lecturer	Macquarie Uni	Physiotherapy
	Fahad Shaikh	Nursing	PhD student / Pharmacist	Western Sydney Uni	Nursing
Dr	Kirstine Shrubsole	Speech pathology	Lecturer	School of Health and human sciences, Southern Cross University	Speech pathology
Dr	Dawn Simpson	Physiotherapy	Lecturer in Physiotherapy	University of Newcastle	Physiotherapy
Ms	Susan Starr	Speech pathology	speech pathologist	St V's Sydney	Speech Pathology
A/Prof	Rene Stolwyk	Neuropsychology		Monash University	Psychology
Miss	Genevieve Tole	Physiotherapy	Senior Clinician Physiotherapist	Caulfield Hospital	Physiotherapy
A/Prof	Melinda Truesdale	Emergency Medicine	Emergency Medicine Physician	Royal Melbourne Hospital	Acute Medical
Prof	Carolyn Unsworth	Occupational therapy	Professor of occupational therapy	Dept of Neuroscience, Monash Uni	Occupational therapy
Ms	Kim Walder	Occupational therapy	Lecturer, OT	School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith Uni	Occupational therapy
	Kylie Wales	Occupational therapy	Lecturer, OT	School of Health Sciences, Uni of Newcastle	Occupational therapy
Dr	Kylie Wall	Speech Pathology	Speech Pathologist PhD student	University of Queensland	Speech Pathology
	Sophie Watt	Physiotherapy	Physiotherapist	Gold Coast Hospital	Physiotherapy
Assoc Prof	Andrew Wong	Neurology	Director, Neurology and Stroke	Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital	Acute Medical
Dr	Dana Wong	Neuropsychology	Snr lecturer in neuropsychology	LaTrobe university	Psychology
A/Prof	Nawaf Yassi	Neurology	Neurologist and Stroke Research Fellow	Royal Melbourne Hospital	Acute Medical
Dr	Henry Zhao	Neurology	Neurologist	Royal Melbourne Hospital	Acute Medical

Consumer Panel

Title	Name	Description
Ms	Toni Arfaras	Stroke survivor
Ms	Karen Bayly	Stroke survivor
Ms	Kim Beesley	Carer (of daughter)
Mr	Brian Beh	Stroke survivor
Ms	Brenda Booth	Stroke survivor
Ms	Sue Bowden	Stroke survivor
Ms	Shelagh Brennand	Stroke survivor
Ms	Sally Byatt	Stroke survivor
Mr	Stephen Carpenter	Stroke survivor
Ms	Hannah Derwent	Stroke survivor
Mrs	Jessica D'Lima	Carer (of husband)
Ms	Joan Douglas-Haynes	Carer (of husband)
Mr	Paul Douglas-Haynes	Stroke survivor
Ms	Kim Draper	Stroke survivor
Mrs	Helen Ebzery	Carer (of mum)
Mr	Peter Eriksen	Stroke survivor
Mr	Tony Finneran	Stroke survivor
Ms	Jenny Holmes	Carer (of son)
Mr	Clive Kempson	Stroke survivor
Mr	Duncan Mitchell	Stroke survivor
Ms	Kathryn Moffatt (Thompson)	Carer (of father)
Ms	Samantha Owen	Stroke survivor
Ms	Christine Owens	Carer (of brother)
Mr	John Popham	Stroke survivor
Ms	Priya Sharma	Stroke survivor
Ms	Barbara Wolfenden	Stroke survivor

Project Development Team

Title	Name	Role	Organisation
Mr	Kelvin Hill	National Manager, Clinical Services	Stroke Foundation
Ms	Heidi Li	Project Officer	Stroke Foundation
Dr	Chris Lassig	Knowledge Translation Coordinator	Stroke Foundation

Contact

For more information or to consider volunteering in the expert working group, please contact guidelines@strokefoundation.org.au

This project is a partnership between the Stroke Foundation and Cochrane Australia, and is supported by the Australian government’s Medical Research Future Fund.