The quest for evidence-based practice: A view from the United States

Abstract

• Summary: This article describes how a reliance upon social and behavioral science research is the feature distinguishing modern professional social work from prior non-professional efforts at providing social care. A number of formal efforts that attempted to more closely link science and practice are described, including the empirical clinical practice movement, the empirically supported treatments initiative, and, most recently, evidence-based practice (EBP). • Findings: EBP is correctly seen as a process of inquiry intended to help practitioners and their clients make important decisions about the services the clients receive. EBP is a process, a verb, not a noun. There is no such thing as evidence-based practices, since in EBP one decides what services to provide by taking into account not only research evidence but also client preferences and values, situational circumstances, professional ethics, the practitioner’s existing skills, and available resources. • Applications: From this perspective it is a misuse of the term EBP to refer to specific interventions or assessment methods as evidence-based. At best, interventions or techniques may be labeled as empirically supported or research-supported. The current status of EBP within American social work is seen as healthy and growing, although misconceptions regarding this process are common.

Managed Care and Changes in Health Care Delivery in the United States: Implications for Social Work Practice in Health Care Settings

“…It was the vision of the American Social Science Association (1865), to make the social wok profession, an "applied social science" and to practice evidence-based practices; this is where the profession is turning presently (Thyer & Myers, 2010). Social workers have a bigger role in advocating for the disadvantaged, minimizing the disparity and inequality in the health field.…”

“…The Social Work Dictionary defines social work as an "applied science" helping people to achieve the optimum level of psychosocial ability and thriving social changes for the well-being of all (Barker, 2003). The movement started by the American Social Science Association (ASSA) in 1865, aided the transformation of the social care concept into the organized professional social work (Thyer, & Myers, 2010). Teaching of social work and social work administration in the United States started with the training of volunteers by the New York School of Philanthropy in 1898 (Martin & Choudhary, (2001).…”

The Role of Translational Neuroscience in the Evidence-Based Practice of Clinical Psychology

“…This phase of research is where the fine-tuning of clinical practice is done within the context of supported theoretical frameworks. At any one time there could be several possible treatment approaches for a certain psychological condition and applied experiments are designed to compare the different methods and interventions to determine the level of utility, or futility, for each (Thyer & Myers, 2011). Progress made in applied psychological research works to establish confidence levels with which practitioners can proceed when looking to utilize the different evidence-based practices available.…”

Reconsidering critical appraisal in social work: choice, care and organization in real-time treatment decisions

“…Attempting to fight this confusion, several scholars (e.g. Shlonsky and Gibbs 2004;Gambrill 2006;Thyer and Myers 2011) have defended what they see as the original interpretation, which presents EBP as a decision-making process in which practitioners shall integrate the 'best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values' (Sackett et al 2000, 1). This interpretation, which can be described as the current dominant model of EBP in the social work literature, will in the following be referred to as the critical appraisal model of EBP and is the focus of this article.…”