Download - Skills for evidence-informed practice: Interactive workshop Dartington Hall, Devon 2 April 2009
Skills for evidence-informed practice:Interactive workshop
Dartington Hall, Devon
2 April 2009
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
Being evidence-informed – key steps
What is evidence-informed practice?
What it means to be evidence-informed, and the case for EIP
Being evidence-informed – key steps
What is evidence-informed practice?
Put most simply, evidence-informed practice means that your decisions are informed by:
The best available research evidence
Your own professional experience
The views and preferences of service users
It is different to evidence-based practice (EBP), because ‘evidence does not take decisions, people do’
To be evidence-informed, we need to:
Ask challenging questions about practice
Reflect on our experiences in order to learn from them
Listen to service users’ feedback
Measure the impact our work is having for users
Know how and where to find research
Understand messages from research
Be explicit about how research, experience and user views have informed decisions
Share knowledge and best practice
The case for evidence-informed practice
Research evidence can help identify where need is greatest and where specific interventions may be most effective – it’s central to outcomes-focused support
Being evidence-informed can help us to have greater confidence in our own decisions, and give service users greater confidence in the support they receive
What is assumed to be good policy and practice is not always supported by the evidence – EIP encourages us to ask questions
Discussion point
What counts as evidence?
Where is evidence needed?
Identifying gaps and knowing what to ask
Being evidence-informed – key steps
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
Being evidence-informed – key steps
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!
Develop your own questions
Exercise
How do you find the evidence you need?
Where to look and how
Being evidence-informed – key steps
Discussion point
Where would you find evidence on
your topic?
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
Decide on your search terms
Develop a search string
Decide on any limits
Consider where you want to look
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
Discussion point
Brainstorm search terms for Autistic
Spectrum Disorder
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?
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
Social Care Online – www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk
Is the evidence good enough?
Appraising and understanding research
Being evidence-informed – key steps
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
Exercise
Please identify strengths and
weaknesses of the evidence presented in
the articles
Being evidence-informed – key steps
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?
How do you make a change?
Translating key messages and influencing practice
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