Finding the Evidence

Library Skills for Evidence Based Social Work Practice

Finding the Evidence: Library Skills for Evidence Based Social Work  Practice

 This site provides general information about evidence based social work practice, and will guide you through the process of researching evidence based literature in library databases and Internet resources.

What is Evidence Based Practice?

Evidence based practice (EBP) originated in the field of medicine but in recent years has expanded into other areas including education and social work. (Morago, 2006)  Many of the descriptions of EBP draw heavily on medical models.

Evidence based practice relies on the premise that to make well informed decisions about practice, social workers need to access the best evidence about interventions. Evidence based practice can be said to be an integration of: best research evidence from the literature,  your own expertise and experience, and  your clients' values and situation (Sackett, 1999)

Why Has Evidence Based Practice Become Prevalent?

Rosen (2003) indicates that in large part the move towards EBP has been fuelled by the realisation that social workers do not as a matter of course use the best evidence from the literature to inform their practice decisions. Advances in technology, and the proliferation of powerful, well indexed databases, and web-based research tools means that information is now not only accessible but also relatively easy to locate. (Plath, 2006)

Benefits of Evidence Based Practice

• Information Explosion
  It has become increasingly difficult for practitioners to navigate the overwhelming amount of literature available to them and retrieve information specifically relevant to their practice, particularly when the literature gives conflicting advice. EBP provides a systematic, structured framework which can be applied to literature searching to ensure information retrieved is focussed and relevant to practice.
   
• Economic Concerns
  In current economic climates where cost cutting and budgetary constraints are becoming ever more prevalent, EBP is appealing because it can help determine high quality cost effective interventions that actually work.
   
• Decline in Professional Knowledge
  There is a recognition that knowledge can decline the further social workers move away from the professional qualification. Social workers may be relying on outdated or anecdotal information instead of finding out what actually works.
   
• Clients Involvement in Decision Making
  Clients are taking more responsibility for decision making related to their care and want valid answers about decision making processes related to their care. Evidence based practice enables social workers to more easily justify their decision making to clients.
   
• Variations in Practice
  Variations in practice are becoming more evident and evidence of harm and lack of benefit is increasing.
   
• Quality of interventions
  Evidence based practice  promotes high quality and cost effective intervention and treatment.
   
• Incorrect Advice
  Reliance on the "expert advice" of colleagues can mean the application of outdated or incorrect advice. Individualised Interventions Evidence based practice encourages, tailored, and individualized treatment of clients and emphasizes care and outcomes that matter to the client. (Plath, 2006; Young, Ashby, Boaz, & Grayson, 2002)

Criticisms of Evidence Based Practice

The emergence of evidence based practice in the field of social work has received a mixed reception. Some social workers feel that EBP is too mechanistic, “number crunching” and scientific and as such is contrary to the more reflective, humanistic nature of social work. (Plath, 2006) Others feel that issues faced by social workers are often multifaceted and complex  and that the EBP model may be too narrow to encompass these. While evidence from the literature  in the field of medicine may look specifically at diagnosis, physical or surgical or drug interventions, the types of situations which social workers deal with are rarely this specific and evidence from the literature cannot  encompass their multifaceted nature.   (Morago, 2006). Webb (2001) further criticizes EBP on the basis that it purports the view that opinion based judgement is somehow inferior to evidence based decision making  and that reflective practice is of less  benefit than researching the clinical evidence.