EBP Exchange - UMB School of Social Work

Now back from Austin, I will share the key “take home” points that I brought back with me.  It was really great participating in these discussions with other schools and at the same time reading the exchange via email.   Debbie Gioia, John Belcher, Fred DiBlasio, and Charles Smith (a PhD graduate) and I will lead a research brown bag seminar on Evidence Based Practice in the spring (I will send a separate announcement about that)… but meanwhile, my key take home points are:

1.  There is a difference between the process of Evidence Based Practice (EBP) and Evidence Based Practices (EPBs). The process of EBP involves posing a question that is both relevant and searchable in a data base, finding and critically appraising the evidence, determining its applicability to a client system (individual, family, group, organization), and evaluating the outcome.  This process engages the client in most of the steps and the best available evidence is used to guide decision-making.  EPBs in contrast are practices that have been established as efficacious or effective under some conditions with some target client groups.

2. The concept of BEST  AVAILABLE EVIDENCE recognizes that randomized controlled trials are just one way to examine effects of an intervention.  NONE of the presenters, reactors, or participants proposed only using RCTs.  There was a recognition that qualitative research designs may be the most appropriate way to answer some research questions and that RCTs will never work to answer some research questions.  (Debbie Gioia by the way kicked off the discussion on the value of qualitative research).

3. The complexity of social work and the client systems that are the focus of our work require strong assessment, problem-solving, and decision-making skills and should be the focus of our educational programs.  These core skills are required before we can teach the process of EPB.

Other implications for Education and Research

1. MSW PRACTICE courses should teach core skills needed for the process of EBP (e.g., interviewing, assessment, problem-solving, decision-making) and should teach how to apply one or two EBPs.  Other training on EBPs should be left to professional continuing education courses and we should promote the importance of life-long learning.  Field placements and field instructors need to be included in the teaching of the process of EBP.

2. MSW RESEARCH courses should teach the process of applying the 5 steps of the process of EBP and focus on obtaining and analyzing results of systematic reviews of research when they are available. 

3. PhD Courses should focus on teaching doctoral students how to conduct systematic reviews that include meta analyses and teaching doctoral students how to teach MSW and BSW students how to apply the process of EPB.

4. Social Work Research - we should conduct research matching the most appropriate methods to the research question so that our results advance knowledge about the best methods for practicing social work with systems of all sizes.

I do not intend to suggest that my “take home” points are the answers - only that my participation in this conference this week leads me to pose these as possible points for discussion. 

To go back to the papers from this symposium - here is the web page: http://www.utexas.edu/ssw/ceu/practice/articles.html

For a list of other papers on EPB - go to: http://www.utexas.edu/ssw/ceu/practice/articles2.html

The conference web site will also include PowerPoint slides from the 6 workgroups - they should be posted within the next few weeks.

I’m looking forward to further discussion

Diane DePanfilis

Welcome to the Evidence-Based Exchange, or EBP Exchange!  This blog is intended for University of Maryland faculty and students to come together and discuss ideas related to evidence-based practice and research and its impact here at the School.  Your comments are welcome and encouraged!  You can even upload files for people to review, comment on, etc.  If you would like to become a regular contributor to this blog and begin topics of your own, please click the Joining In tab found at the top of this page.