Evidence-Based Practice Among Swedish Medical Social Workers

Abstract

We have explored Swedish medical social workers' attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and behavior concerning evidence-based practice (EBP) and investigated the properties of a questionnaire to measure EBP. One hundred seventy-four Swedish medical social workers within university hospital care and primary care participated in a cross-sectional survey. Our results showed positive attitudes toward EBP and the use of evidence to support clinical decision making. EBP was seen as necessary and something that needed to be implemented more often. The main barriers to implementing EBP were lack of time (78%), the perception that EBP does not take into account the limitations of the clinical practice setting (78%), and lack of knowledge about relevant research (46%).

The Role of Reflection in Family Support Social Work and Its Possible Promotion by a Research-Supported Model

“…However, with limited time for working with the model, benefits like these are at risk of being lost. Thus, a lack of sufficient time, aligned with other factors like a dearth of resources and negative or skeptical attitudes, are possible hindering factors, that are also described in previous research (Gray, Joy, Plath, & Webb, 2014;Heiwe et al, 2013;Pope, Rollins, Chaumba, & Risler, 2011;Scurlock-Evans & Upton, 2015). Another possible consequence of limited time is practitioners' choice to work from experience and tacit knowledge, instead of basing choices on evidence, since this requires less effort in comparison (Muskat, Mishna, Farnia, & Wiener, 2010).…”

“…This type of approach entails the risk of degrading and subordinating practitioners' professional knowledge, and to an even larger extent their proven experience, tacit knowledge, reflection and relationship-based ways of conducting social work (e.g. Barfoed & Jacobsson, 2012;Heiwe et al, 2013;Ingram, Fenton, Hodson, & Jindal-Snape, 2014).…”

“…Randomized control trials (RCT), placed at the top of the "evidence-hierarchy," are frequently criticized in relation to the complex nature of social work. Advocates of EBP do, however, emphasize its beneficial characteristics, like the capacity to reduce the theory-practice gap and uncertainty, to improve service quality and increase efficiency and effectiveness through ongoing evaluation and improvement (Gambrill, 2010;Gredig & Marsh, 2013;Heiwe et al, 2013;Mullen et al, 2005). Indeed, the controversy seems real, and is described in previous research with concepts like "new" and "traditional" professional styles (Barfoed & Jacobsson, 2012), and "organizational" and "occupational" professionalism (Liljegren & Parding, 2010).…”

Social Service Counseling in Cancer Centers Certified by the German Cancer Society

“…Especially in palliative care, need for SSC is high for both patients and dependents, but data on this crucial area is not available. Future interventional research might focus on the rigorous testing of specific practices and on how to effectively implement these, to strengthen the evidence-base of social work in the centers (Brekke, 2012;Heiwe et al, 2013). ORCID Christoph Kowalski http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7438-4321 Julia Ferencz http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2196-571X…”

Research Use and Evidence-Based Practice Among Swedish Medical Social Workers: A Qualitative Study

“…The few studies that have specifically focused on medical social workers' attitudes show a low orientation towards EBP (Björkenheim 2007;Heiwe et al 2013). Hence, in practice, EBP is still infrequently implemented within the field (Bellamy et al 2006;Mullen and Bacon 2006;Rubin and Parrish 2007;Heiwe et al 2013), even though some guiding models have recently been developed (Fugl-Meyer 2016). Because social work is conducted in a multitude of settings, each setting needs to be carefully studied to guide the successful implementation of EBP (Manuel et al 2009).…”