Rehabilitation Medicine encompasses the areas of rehabilitation sciences, such as speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, prosthetics & orthotics, psychology, and physical medicine & rehabilitation.
This guide introduces the basic principles of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) as they apply to rehabilitation medicine. Becoming an EBP practitioner is an iterative process, integrating evidence into your clinical reasoning. Use the tabs to find out more about practicing EBP in rehabilitation.
What is EBP?
Sacket defined evidence-based practice as “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patient. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research” (Sackett DL et al, 1996). EBP encourages the integration of these three of components, rather than using just one piece of evidence, to inform clinical decision-making.
What is meant by the “Best Available Research Evidence”?
The quality of evidence varies based on the way it was gathered and vetted. There are various hierarchies to aid clinicians rate the quality of evidence. The Quantitative Pyramid is used for evaluating evidence for cause and effect questions; whereas, the Qualitative Pyramid illustrates the relative usefulness of different types of evidence to answer meaning or experience questions.
The iterative process has 5 steps:
You can find additional resources to learn more about EPB at the following sites:
Evidence-Based Rehabilitation by While evidence-based practice (EBP) has greatly influenced rehabilitation in the past decade, it continues to evolve and practitioners need guidance to implement evidence into their practice. Evidence-Based Rehabilitation: A Guide to Practice, the best-selling text providing step-by-step EBP guidance for rehabilitation professionals, has been updated into an expanded Third Edition. In Evidence-Based Rehabilitation, Third Edition Drs. Mary Law and Joy MacDermid, along with their contributors, explain evidence-based rehabilitation, the concepts underlying EBP, and build the reader's knowledge and skills through specific learning. The text is organized by the steps of the EBP process--introduction to EBP, finding the evidence, assessing the evidence, and using the evidence. EBP focuses first and foremost on making the best decisions for each client and using the best information available. For many rehabilitation practitioners, building skills in EBP is best done one step at a time. Evidence-Based Rehabilitation helps the rehabilitation student and practitioner develop his or her knowledge and skills to implement evidence-based rehabilitation in practice. Benefits of the Third Edition: * All chapters have been updated with new information and resources * New chapters about systematic reviews, and knowledge transfer * Extensive guide available with specific student activities and answers for faculty use * Critical review forms included for student use--these forms have been used by practitioners and researchers around the world for 10 to 20 years * Recognition throughout the book that EBP in rehabilitation means bringing together research evidence, clinical reasoning of the therapist and client values and goals * Fits the standard 3-unit course design with 11 to 12 sessions Instructors in educational settings can visit www.efacultylounge.com for additional materials to be used for teaching in the classroom. Designed and written by an occupational therapist and a physical therapist with extensive research, education, and practice experience, Evidence-Based Rehabilitation: A Guide to Practice, Third Edition will guide both occupational therapy and physical therapy students and practitioners as they incorporate evidence-based practice into their work.See the Amazon listing for a peek inside.
The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model and Guidelines by Divided into four parts: background on EBP; The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model (JHNEBP Model) and Guidelines; practice, evidence, and translation (PET); creating a supportive environment for EBP; and exemplars (examples of how the model has been used).Includes 9 appendices of forms and templates that can be used by the reader in practice.The book describes a model that has been well tested by nurses, multidisciplinary teams, faculty, and students.It is both a textbook students and a handbook for nurses in practice.
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