Practice-based Research in (allied) healthcare

1 Research competence for a professional context

Although the physiological responses of pregnant women and their foetuses have been well studied, the literature contains comparatively few studies investigating response to exercise. When performed properly, activities such as aerobics, impact and nonimpact activities, resistance training, and swimming may be beneficial during pregnancy (abstract DeMaio & Magann, 2009). Without consulting the right (and original) sources, you run the risk of drawing an incorrect or incomplete conclusion. You must therefore always look for the original source . Looking for different types of sources For some (common) questions, other people may (recently) have found a thorough answer already and recorded their findings in an evidence-based guideline . A guideline is a document that contains recommendations designed to improve the quality of care, which are based on scientific research complemented by the expertise and experiences of caregivers and patients. This is a good place to start looking for an answer to your question. Of course, it is important to consider when and by whom a guideline was drawn up. Back to the beginning Renske graduated as a podiatrist in 2005. She recently moved and started a new job. Whereas she used to work a lot with professional athletes, her new job frequently has her treating people suffering from a diabetic foot. It has been a while since she graduated and there is undoubtedly a wealth of new knowledge regarding the right treatment and the role she can or cannot play as a podiatrist. Asking herself the general question, “What podiatry interventions are used on patients with a diabetic foot?”, she begins by checking whether a guideline has been written about this topic. In her search, she comes across the guideline “Diabetic foot” from 2017. That will make for a good starting point. Of course, guidelines are not available for all topics or – if one does exist – it may be outdated. In that case, you must look for (additional) scientific literature. Within the field of scientific literature, overview studies are available in which many different studies are compiled and assessed in terms of their quality and the strength of their evidence. The Cochrane Library (www.cochranelibrary.com or netherlands.cochrane.org) is an important resource to find these so-called systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Furthermore, you can search for systematic reviews in theMEDLINE database (accessible via the PubMed search engine).

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