Conference Agenda

Background: The Perinatal Special Interest Group (Perinatal SIG) is currently developing the Swiss guidelines for the management of perinatal depression. Perinatal depression is one of the most common mental health problems affecting women during the perinatal period, their child’ and their co-parent’s well-being. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to respond to the needs of these patients and their families, but treatment guidelines are still missing in Switzerland. To fill this gap, members of the Perinatal SIG, , have conducted a systematic search of international guidelines. They critically appraised these guidelines and extracted relevant recommendations to adopt or adapt them to the Swiss context, guided by the “Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation of Evidence to Decision frameworks for adopting, adapting, and de novo developing trustworthy recommendations” (GRADE-ADOLOPMENT) approach. More than 200 recommendations were identified and evaluated by experts, including healthcare providers and service users.

Workshop method: The workshop will feature a panel discussion where experts will address challenges encountered during the guideline development process. The session will include a practical demonstration of a critical appraisal using the AGREE II instrument. Additionally, participants will engage in a task focused on the selection of recommendations through the Delphi method, exemplified by discussing a recommendation lacking consensus.

Goal: The workshop serves the purpose of further training and the exchange of experience between experts and committee members involved in the development of guidelines. It will provide valuable insights into guideline development, benefiting other groups of experts in this and related fields.