>
>
>I am remembering a class I was leading for a group of healthcare
>professionals. I had just presented a lovely collection of evidence about a
>particular topic, starting with the Cochrane Collaborative and citing other
>research too. A participant in the class practically jumped to her feet,
>saying "I know what the evidence says...........and I don't believe it!!"


That's happened to me, too, with a class of HCPs, on more than one
occasion.  The 'worst' example I have had was when a really quite
angry  midwife said to the class, 'I don't care how much research
there is on XYZ,  I just won't accept it....' It sounds naive and
confrontational, but I am certain it only puts words to the thoughts
and impulses experienced by other people in the same class.

HCPs are unafraid to counter powerful research and massive
evidence-bases with rejoinders that begin 'well, I don't think that
can be true, because when I had my baby [insert some reason why the
baby had to have formula or wasn't happy breastfeeding, or similar]'
and of course it's not the time or the place to unpick very personal,
sometimes quite sad memories and re-evaluate what happened.

This is where the vol orgs get it so right - they incorporate
'de-briefing' into the training  and it can be set in context,
re-interpreted, accepted, not judged, and placed where it belongs.

Personal experience is massively important when it comes to
acceptance of research in healthcare. In the book Bad Science, author
Ben Goldacre posits this as a reason why good evidence is often
rejected in favour of bad practice.  It's human nature to do this.

It can help to acknowledge, right at the start of any teaching, that
what you are about to present may be challenging, may be
counter-intuitive, and may undermine stuff they thought they knew -
and how wonderful this exploration can be!  I've found that people
respond when you tell them your class is a safe place to be
challenged, and to challenge, and that infant feeding is personal -
and they will have their own personal feelings about it.  It's shows
how breastfeeding is more than just the milk.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome