The effect of Education with workplace supports on practitioners’ evidence‐based practice knowledge and implementation behaviours

Abstract

Education with workplace supports (supervision, incentives, resource allocation and working groups) may lead to improvements in EBP knowledge and implementation.

Supporting evidence-based practice: Changes in service provision and practitioners’ attitudes following EBP Service Centre consultation – a qualitative study / Evidenzbasierte Praxis unterstützen: Veränderungen der Arbeitsweise und der Einstellungen von Ergotherapeuten/-innen durch die Nutzung eines EBP Service Centers - eine qualitative Studie

“…The 114 therapists produced 15 CATs in an eight-month period (McCluskey, 2004). A statistically significant increase of CAT production could be reached by another Australian study (Novak & McIntyre, 2010), in which 88 allied health professions were trained and received different kinds of workplace support. During the 18-month period, 24 CATs were produced.…”

“…McCluskey and Lovarini (2005) showed that EBP education and outreach support improved the knowledge but did not change the participants' practice regarding the frequency of searching and appraising literature. Novak and McIntyre (2010) found that a workshop with workplace support improved EBP implementation. The workplace support included supervision, incentives, resource allocation and working groups.…”

“…This included offering new therapeutic approaches, not delivering a special method any more, or the decision to buy a specific assessment. In the project of McCluseky et al (2004), which focused on training EBP skills and the production of CATs by therapists, no changes in practice were reported, whereas Novak and McIntyre (2010) documented changes in service provision after offering an EBP workshop with workplace support. In the specific literature, the process of changing service according to new evidence is most often called 'implementation of evidence' or 'knowledge translation' and receives much attention because step 4 in EBP -'making a decision and applying new knowledge' -is sometimes regarded as the most challenging step (McCluskey, 2014, see also Glasziou & Haynes, 2005).…”

“…The situation of no evidence has to be distinguished from the situation where there is evidence that a treatment or an approach is not effective or causes harm. Novak's traffic light grading system for the summary of evidence (Novak & McIntyre, 2010) offers excellent visualisation and might be helpful for explanations.…”

Red, yellow, green: can a traffic light system help systematic reviews?

“…3 This article is creating 'buzz' (both negative and positive) with some negative comments voiced by health professionals providing red or yellow coded interventions, as well as questions about the validity of using this methodology to make recommendations on clinical practice. Interestingly, I have seen this article used in the first month since its publication on three occasions: (1) by an academic colleague who wished to succinctly summarize the evidence for constraint therapy and used the 'bubble' figures at a workshop for clinicians; (2) by a new occupational therapist working with children with CP who wanted to review the evidence for interventions; and (3) by me when asked by a journalist to comment on the use of 'therasuits' as an intervention for CP.…”