skills for evidence-informed practice: interactive workshop cambridge 30 april 2009
TRANSCRIPT
First, a little about ripfa…
We work to promote and support evidence-informed practice in adult health and social care
We do this through:
learning events
publications
our network, including a busy discussion forum
change projects
the website, www.ripfa.org.uk
joint work with research in practice
What we can achieve today
A one-day introduction to key aspects of evidence-informed practice
Focusing on the role of individuals as opposed to teams and organisations
Practical guidance on core skills needed for evidence-informed practice
Using groupwork and real examples to help messages stick
What would you like to get from the day?
What is evidence-informed practice?
Put most simply, evidence-informed practice means that your decisions are informed by:
Your own professional experience,
The views and preferences of service users
AND
The best available research evidence
It is different to evidence-based practice (EBP) - ‘evidence does not take decisions, people do’
Identifying need for evidence
Choosing a topic Related to day-to-day work; important for decision
making in individual case or service level
‘Controversial’; area of work where people have different views or debate about
Service user informed; one that service users ask or want to know more about
Realistic; area in which it is likely to find evidence
Policy led
Developing a specific question
The importance of having a specific question
Start the question with: ‘How…’, ‘What…’, ‘Why…’, ‘Who…’, etc.
Effectiveness questions, exploratory questions and service users’ views questions
Question’s ‘elements’: client group, setting/service, approach/intervention, outcome
Be specific!
What can we cover today?
Unravelling some of the jargon you will hear
The best places to find research evidence on your topic
How to carry out a straightforward online search
Some legitimate shortcuts!
Finding the evidence you need – routes you can take
Ask around!
Carry out a
search
Do your own
research
Colleagues Librarians
ripfaTopic
experts
Existing reviews
and summaries
Original papers and
journal articles
Carrying out an online search
Consider where you want to look
Decide on your search terms
Develop a search string
Decide on any limits
Where will you look?
ORGANISATION WEBSITES
e.g. DH, SCIE, ripfa
ONLINE DATABASES
e.g. Social Care Online, SSCI,
ASSIA
INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES
e.g. Google
LIBRARIES
In-house, local, university
Deciding on your search terms
Look at the specific question you developed earlier
Pick out the main words or phrases that describe what you’re looking for
For each, think of as many alternative terms as possible with the same or similar meaning
Ask friends and colleagues for suggestions
You can add other terms later on – some of the first articles and websites you find might give you other ideas
Develop a search string
Combine your search terms into a string using Boolean searching
Using AND limits your search
e.g. Autism AND services
Using OR broadens your search
e.g Autism OR Asperger Syndrome
Using brackets can help you combine lots of terms
e.g. (Autism OR Asperger Syndrome) AND (Support OR Services)
Think about your limits
Placing limits can make the number of articles you find more manageable to deal with
It can also ensure greater relevance
For example, are you only interested in:
Studies from the UK?
Studies written in English?
Studies published in the last five years?
Studies about adults?
Appraise the evidence What counts as good evidence?
Information on the Web: the double-edged sword
Appraising research (journal articles and books)
Is the purpose of the research stated clearly?
Who funds it?
Clear research questions and defined concepts
Is the choice of research methods justified?
Are the participants (the sample) chosen appropriately?
Is the data analysis sound?
Have ethical considerations been paid attention to?
Advanced research appraisal – comparing research projects
How relevant is the evidence?
Bias is not a ‘dirty word’; what is your bias?
Always look at the counter-arguments
Opposing evidence sometime tell more than commonality in evidence
Appraising the relevance: client group, context, interventions, outcomes
Who is in a position to make these judgements?
Getting evidence into practice
Do you want to: Change your own practice? Encourage others to change their practice? Suggest a change to the way a service is provided?
Only you can change your own practice – but support from colleagues and managers can help
Remember EIP is also about sharing information
So whether you are suggesting large-scale change or simply changing the way you do things yourself, the following exercise may be useful…
Presenting your evidence effectively:The SCAM model
Source – who delivers the message?
Channel – how are you sending the message?
Audience – who are you sending the message to?
Message – what is your message?
One final exercise…
Using the evidence you have found today, make a proposal for a change to a service or an aspect of practice
- The change you are proposing can be at any level
- YOU decide whether you are practitioners, service users, someone else, or a mixture
- YOU decide who your audience is – perhaps a service-user organisation, management group, or team meeting?
Thank you.
Please contact us if you need any further information:
[email protected] 860097
[email protected] 869758