Evidence Matters

31/10/2026

📬 New issue of Evidence Matters is out!

What if your clinic learned from every patient it saw?

Most of us already collect data in practice: histories, outcome measures, notes. But how often does it come back to us as learning?

Issue 5 explores learning health systems: clinics, patients and researchers working in a simple loop to ask, measure, learn and change.

Inside:
🔁 The four-step learning loop
🏥 What it looks like in practice, from the ONZ Research Champion Clinics to our cultural safety research in Aotearoa
✅ Three small steps any clinic can start this month

Read it here, and subscribe free to get future issues by email 👇
https://evidencematters.beehiiv.com/p/from-outcomes-to-learning-health-systems

One question for you: if your clinic learned from every patient this year, what would you want to know by December? Tell us in the comments.

How clinics, patients and researchers can learn together

31/10/2026

I’m looking for a Research Assistant based in New Zealand to help with a qualitative study in osteopathy. It’s a great way to get hands-on research experience, and you don’t need to be an expert, just organised, reliable and curious. New graduates are very welcome to apply! 🎓

What you’ll be doing:
Inviting and emailing potential participants
Arranging interview days and times
Liaising with the research team
Possibly some coding of interview data

The details:
💰 NZ$30 per hour
⏱️ 20–25 hours in total, casual and flexible
📍 Work from anywhere in NZ
🚀 Immediate start, running until recruitment is complete
Keen? Send me a few lines about your research work or interest, your availability, and confirm you’re based in NZ:
📧 [email protected]
Feel free to get in touch with any questions, and please share with anyone you think might be interested! 🙌

07/09/2026

https://evidencematters.beehiiv.com/p/research-belongs-in-the-clinic

Research doesn’t just reach clinical practice. It grows from it.

26/08/2026

Latest Newsletter out!
We dig deeper into 'what matters most to patient?'
https://evidencematters.beehiiv.com/p/what-matters-most-to-patients

31/07/2026

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-every-clinic-can-contribute-research-kesava-kovanur-sampath-y63ic

A Conversation Worth Having After publishing Research Begins in the Clinic, I received several messages from clinicians that all centred around the same idea. "I understand why research is important… but my clinic is small.

21/07/2026

21/07/2026

I am incredibly proud to share our work exploring the experiences of kaumātua living with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
What makes this project particularly meaningful is how it began. The research questions did not originate solely within a university. They emerged from the community and from conversations about what truly matters to kaumātua.
This has been a genuine collaboration between researchers, two Māori health organisations, kaumātua, and the wider community. Community knowledge and lived experience guided the project from the outset and remained central throughout the research journey.
My deepest gratitude goes to the kaumātua who generously shared their time, experiences, and wisdom. Thank you also to our Māori health partners for their trust, leadership, and commitment to ensuring this work remained grounded in the needs of the community.
And to Tapara —what began as a research collaboration has grown into a relationship I deeply value. You are a brother now. I am incredibly thankful for your guidance, generosity, and friendship throughout this journey.
Thank you Dr Sharon Brownie for your guidance and nurturing throughout. Thanks Marrin Haggie for your incredible work organising the Wananga and data analysis and all the conversations/learnings that happened as part of this Journey, truly thankful.
Wintec - Waikato Institute of Technology
Paper here: https://rdcu.be/fuAp5

30/06/2026

**What exactly is "upper back pain"?**

It sounds like a simple question, but our newly published study in *BMJ Open* suggests the answer isn't as straightforward as many of us might think.

We interviewed experienced physiotherapists and osteopaths across New Zealand to explore how they define, reason about and manage upper back pain in clinical practice.

Some key insights emerged:

🔹 **Upper back pain is a "fuzzy" construct.** Clinicians often used different anatomical boundaries and terminology, highlighting the need for greater consistency in how we define this region.

🔹 **It's about more than biomechanics.** While physical assessment remains important, clinicians increasingly considered psychosocial factors, lifestyle, patient beliefs and broader contributors to pain.

🔹 **Hands-on care is a starting point—not the destination.** Manual therapy was commonly used to facilitate movement, reduce symptoms and build confidence, but rarely as a standalone treatment. Exercise, education and self-management formed an integral part of care.

🔹 **The therapeutic relationship matters.** Experienced clinicians described a shift towards shared decision-making, individualised care and empowering patients rather than simply treating symptoms.

Perhaps the most interesting finding was that these themes weren't isolated. Together, they reflected an evolution in clinical practice—from a predominantly intervention-focused approach towards more collaborative, patient-centred care.

One challenge remains: there is still considerable ambiguity around the terms *upper back pain* and *thoracic spine pain*. Developing clearer terminology and a shared understanding across professions may help improve communication, education and future clinical guidelines.

I'd be interested to hear from clinicians:

**👉 How do you define "upper back pain" in your own practice? Do you distinguish it from thoracic spine pain, or do you use the terms interchangeably?**

Looking forward to hearing your perspectives.
The article is open access, so its free to download and read. Let me know your thoughts.

Objective To explore how physiotherapists and osteopaths who use manual therapy in New Zealand conceptualise, reason about and manage upper back pain (UBP), a clinically relevant but inconsistently defined musculoskeletal presentation. Design Qualitative study using semistructured interviews and ref...

27/06/2026

We Started with a Simple Question One of the first questions I asked during our recent ONZ Research Webinar was deceptively simple: "How do you know your patients are getting better?" The responses reflected the reality of clinical practice. Some relied primarily on clinical judgement, others on wha

21/05/2026

Thank you to those who have already participated. If you have not yet had the chance, we would value your input on how you provide culturally safe care within your osteopathic practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Survey Link here:
https://lnkd.in/gB5m-SHa