Importance Of Evidence Based Practice In Social Care

Evidence based practice has been seen as far back as the 1700s and there is even some evidence tracing back to Ancient Egypt. (Dillard, 2017) The first randomized control test for EBP was in 1747 by James Lind. (Dillard, 2017) Lancaster used a sailing voyage to test the theory that scurvy could be prevented in sailors by use of citrus juice. The results from his experiment were dramatic but were not published for another 7 years. Even after it was published it took another 40 years before ships implemented having citrus juice for sailors. (Dillard, 2017) One of our most prominent figures in nursing, Florence Nightingale, is credited with evaluating and then changing practice standards in our field. (Brower, 2017) One of her greatest examples was implementing the change of using hot water with soap instead of just cold

Evidence-based practice is extremely important in health care. It is not only important to know how to perform a certain skill, but why it should be done. There needs to be a standard of care and providers need to know the best way of doing things based on evidence. The article mentions that in the 20th century, many medial decisions were made on doctor assessment and preference (Brower, 2017). Many physicians were practicing dramatically different when compared with one another, which led to the realization that changes needed to be made and Evidence-based practice began to develop. Even though Evidence-based practices have been in play for a while, there is a gap between understanding and applying evidence-based

The CSWE and the NASW view research as important to our profession because social workers must use research to advise and support their interventions, thus social workers are held accountable to acquire the knowledge and skills to help all our clients. In regards to research, the CSWE has two policy statements that social worker must adhere by: “applying critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgement and engage in research-informed practice and practice informed research”. These policies ensure that social workers have a basic understanding of research, and how we as social workers can apply research to our

Social work practice in Canada is guided by the Canadian Association of Social Workers ' (CASW) Code of Ethics. This Code of Ethics contains six core values and principles: respect for the inherent dignity and worth of persons, pursuit of social justice, service to humanity, integrity of professional practice, confidentiality, and competence (Canadian Association of Social Workers [CASW], 2005). Social workers who utilize both narrative and solution-focused therapies should fully understand the strengths and limitations of these theories in their professional practice using CASW guidelines. Additionally, social workers should examine if these single approaches are sufficiently comprehensive to address all of a client 's problems, or if a more flexible, adaptable approach of eclecticism is more suited (Coady & Lehmann, 2008).

Evidence based practice is the basis for needed change in practice and function. It is a sound method for scientific, fact-based change. Changes which have no evidence to support them are fragile, unscientific, and subjective. These changes don’t effect real change over time, as they aren’t able to be proven to a more general population.

In today 's society, there is a great deal of research and practice about evidence based practice. Most of this is highly sought upon in the field of psychology, where evidence and decision making is key to accomplishing new ideas of treatments for people who retain psychiatric problems. The meaning of evidence-based practice in psychology is that it involves making very educated and supported decisions based on punctilious, unambiguous, and astute evidence (Rousseau & Gunia, 2016). With evidence-based practice, it assists in raising and deriving the issue of what evidence really is, the strength of the evidence, and how practitioners can improve the quality of their evidence (Rousseau & Gunia, 2016). Evidence is a major factor because it may either enhance or hinder the practitioner 's ability to make decisions and construct their practices on patients (Rousseau & Gunia, 2016). Evidence-based practice began in the 1980 's with the goal to combine the practices of scientific evidence with physician education and clinical practice. The issue with this was that medical schools did not have the ability to teach their own specific approaches to clinical problems (Rousseau & Gunia, 2016). As an effect to this cause, three main issues quickly arose about the effectiveness and quality of evidence-based practice. First, since other fields were advancing growth in

Itroduction: Evidence-based practice is an approach to medicine that uses scientific evidence to determine the best practice (Beyea & Slattery, 2006). As nurses perform their daily tasks they must continually ask themselves, “What is the evidence for this intervention?”. Nurses are well positioned to question current nursing practices and use evidence to make care more effective. In order to improve patients’ outcomes it is the responsibility of the nurse to transition evidence-based practice into the norm, through application of daily practice (Flynn Makic, Rauen, Watson & Will Poteet, 2014). Continual evaluation of current practice must be performed to ensure the use of evidence-based practice opposed to practice based upon tradition. The implementation of evidence-based practice standardizes healthcare practices and diminishes groundless variations within care. These variations lead to the production of uncertain health outcomes (Stevens, 2013).

According to Stevens (2013), the call to develop and implement evidence-based practice (EBP) within all healthcare disciplines is fueled by legislative demands for improvement in standard medical metrics such as mortality and morbidity. However, increasing demands by the public for evidence related to the metrics and outcomes of such concepts as quality of life illustrate what may be more important to the client (Stevens, 2013). This client-directed focus has resulted in patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) (Stevens, 2013). "The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) helps people make informed health care decisions, and improves health care delivery and outcomes, by producing and promoting high integrity, evidence-based information

Evidence based practice is an important priority in nursing because it ensures that the best quality and most effective care is being used. Restraint use is an intervention that is being minimized more and more. It can be an important intervention when necessary but there are specific circumstances and guidelines that must be followed. Evidence based practice is proving that restraint use may be eliminated due to safety concerns and more beneficial interventions being used.

The Social Work podcast by Parish stated that evidence-based practice is making the best choice about the care of the individual client. It is a process that uses the best available research and client values to answer a variety of practice questions.

They believe that best practices allow social workers to draw into their professional decision-making. It also involves an appraisal of not only the quality of available research, but also the values that guide the research, policies, and practices within the social work field (Petr & Walter, 2005).

The writings of advocates of EBP demonstrate that a shift is taking place in the social work field towards a more integrated approach where “social work is an applied, empirically grounded social and cultural science aiming at both causal explanation and interpretive understanding” (Otto & Zeigler, 2008, p. 273). Talking about the limits of RCTs they suggest that “Typically, the experimental design is not able to control for the effects of worker-client dynamics and client characteristics that are not clearly defined, understood or measurable” (Cnaan & Dichter, 2008 p. 281). They go on to say: that there is a need for some sort of feedback process where the fit between the practice needs and the effectiveness of the intervention are

In the generalist social work practice, a social worker is a change agent due to the expansive and complex umbrella of social and human services and roles. A change agent works to promote positive changes for the well-being of an individual, family, group, organization or community. In order to fulfill the tasks of a social worker, one should be trained and equipped with a wide variety of skills: such as setting appropriate boundaries, possessing and utilizing self-awareness and the ability to counsel or advocate for clients. In addition to many skills, the generalist social work practice includes a surplus of methods to either prevent or intervene when necessary. A method often utilized by social workers is the person-in-environment conceptualization. The person-in-environment perspective considers factors, such as familial or economic, beyond the individual to better understand the client’s behaviors or situation. Another method is the strengths perspective. The strength-based perspective focuses on the client’s or client system’s positive qualities to build upon those capabilities. And the recognition of strengths helps to achieve goals in a more client-led approach. Generalist practitioners are professionals with a wide range of knowledge and a repertoire of diverse skills in order to enhance the social functioning of all within society.

Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is one of the most current and relevant tools in social work (Rozas and Grady, 2011). EBP involves integrating quantifiable science-based assessments and interventions while considering client and community preferences and accessible resources during an intervention (Bellamy et al., 2013). Quantifiable science-based assessments and interventions are studied to show the impact those interventions have in regards to a population (Bellamy et al., 2013). EBP is a bridge between research and practice in social work and other professions (Bellamy et al., 2013).

Literature reviews can be of great benefit to social work practitioners. According to the Health and Care Profession’s Council’s standards of proficiency for social workers, practitioners must ‘be able to engage in evidence-informed practice’ (HCPC, 2017. p.11). This evidence includes research knowledge (Webber, 2014). The requirement for practitioners to draw on knowledge from developments in policy, practice and research is also reflected in the Professional Capabilities Framework for Social workers in England (The British Association of Social Work, 2012). Exploring research papers can assist with this process but with the increasing amount of published research reports, one can be overwhelmed by the amount of papers to digest and consider its application (Aveyard, 2014). As a literature review gives a clear picture of all the relevant literature on a specific topic, it proves a more convenient strategy for learning about the current context regarding an area of interest. Furthermore, Webber explains that research evidence is important for social work practice as it informs our knowledge on what works and does not work for service users (2014). This suggests that practitioners should endeavour to stay up to date with their knowledge of developments in social work as part of their professional development in order to ensure they can practice effectively with service users.