Practice-based Research in (allied) healthcare

1.4 Evidence-based practice in the healthcare sector

When you embark on your professional career, you bring the competences that you develop while conducting practice-based research with you. In your future work as a healthcare professional, you will have to study research results and implement them in your own activities, critically assess your own actions and evaluate the care you provide via practical research. You may also take part in studies conducted by other researchers or decide you want to learn more about research in order to set up your own practice-based research project. These things all contribute to your lifelong learning and your ongoing personal and professional development. This is an important hallmark of a good professional. Evidence-based practice in the healthcare sector Taking part in (practice-based) research contributes to the development of your research competence for a professional context, which in turn helps you perform your job well. Furthermore, practice-based research is necessary for the improvement of the quality of care and the innovation of the professional practice. However, it is not only important for you to learn and experience what practice-based research entails; you must also learn how to integrate the relevant findings from your research into your daily professional practice. That is what the term “ evidence-based practice ” ( EBP ) is all about. There are many different definitions of EBP. In line with Offringa, Verhoef and Munten (2016, p. 21) we use the following description: Evidence-based practice is the careful, explicit and judicious use of the current best evidence in order to make decisions with individual clients (and/or their relatives) about the necessary or desired care or treatment. The practice of evidence-based practice implies the integration of the practitioner’s individual knowledge and experience and the client’s individual values and knowledge-based experience with the best evidence. When you consider this definition, you will see that there are three aspects involved in making a decision, whereby the context in which the decision making process occurs must always be taken into consideration. The three elements of EBP are: ■ evidence: the (current) best available evidence ( evidence is not the same as proof ; only when evidence is so strong that there can hardly be any doubt regarding its correctness can it really be compared to proof (Offringa, Assendelft & Scholten, 2008)); ■ the value(s) and preferences of the individual patient or client (and/or their relatives); ■ the care professional’s knowledge and experience (clinical expertise).

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