# Promoting Evidence based practice with open access materials - Insights from the Future Health Hub Project - Savonia AMK

> This article covers the main content of Helping Students in Evidence Based Projects presentation held in Maputo in April.

## Overview
This article covers the main content of the *Helping Students in Evidence Based Projects* presentation held as part of the *Health Education Without Borders: Innovation Through Collaboration* conference in Maputo, Mozambique, on April 10, 2025.

One aim of the Future Health Hub (FHH) project has been to promote evidence-based practices (EBP) as part of internships, including joint projects carried out by Savonia and ISCISA students. Finding reliable information is a crucial part of this, and an information specialist from Savonia’s library has supported students' information seeking in family coaching pilots at both institutions. The goal is for students to utilize open access (OA) materials when preparing for training and creating guidance materials.

## Conference Presentation Highlights
The presentation summarized the project's progress and the rationale for emphasizing open access materials. Key objectives included:
* Promoting OA materials in general.
* Ensuring students understand how to access reliable information after graduation, when licensed institutional materials may no longer be available.

## Information Retrieval Training
The presentation detailed the evolution of information retrieval teaching:
* **Previous methods:** Information skills training was typically integrated into theoretical courses at different stages of study.
* **FHH Project approach:** The project introduced a specific emphasis on OA materials and linked guidance directly to students’ internships.

The team reviewed the *Information retrieval: EBP and Open Access Materials* module on the Edunia platform, which includes:
* Introduction to EBP and OA
* Tips for information seeking
* Open Access Databases
* Open Access Books
* E-Journals
* Theses
* WHO and other useful web pages
* Translators, AI, and open science and learning

## Pilot Implementation and Feedback
Students accessed materials via Edunia, supplemented by face-to-face guidance sessions with a Savonia information specialist in Kuopio and Maputo. 

**Feedback and Results:**
* Students reported a good understanding of the benefits of OA materials.
* The guidance sessions were found to be highly useful.
* PubMed was the most utilized information source.
* In Kuopio, students used both licensed and OA materials, while in Maputo, students relied exclusively on OA materials.

**Development Ideas:**
* Students in Maputo suggested receiving more information about families prior to the information-seeking session to better tailor their searches.
* There is a desire to organize future online sessions so that both ISCISA and Savonia students can attend simultaneously.
* ISCISA students provided positive feedback during the conference, noting that the information-seeking process was a valuable experience.

## Future Outlook
Work continues, and the lessons learned and development ideas gathered will be incorporated into future planning.

## Author Information
**Tanja Savolainen**
Information Specialist, Savonia Library
tanja.savolainen@savonia.fi

***

*This article is part of the presentations related to the Future Health HUB and Erasmus+ SA-IS projects, delivered at the Health Education Without Borders: Innovation Through Collaboration conference held in Maputo on April 10, 2025. An overview of the conference and the projects presented is provided in the main article: Health Education Without Borders: Innovation Through Collaboration - International Conference in Maputo – April 10, 2025.*

*This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0*