Abstract
Throughout this book, we have attempted to show how to implement the evidence-based practice (EBP) decision-making process in a way that feels manageable and realistic in everyday clinical practice. We hope that the previous chapters have provided practitioners with the tools and the knowledge necessary to have confidence in their ability to use EBP to inform practice decisions in many settings and with a wide range of clients. While EBP is a process with both strengths and limitations, we believe that social workers must engage with EBP as a way of providing the best possible care to the clients they serve. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) and EBP are valuable steps toward realizing Dr. Archie Cochrane’s goals of increasing effective treatments, reducing benign treatments, and eliminating harmful and ineffective treatments. EBP is an important step in improving client outcomes and professional accountability. EBP moves social work from the “empirically based practice” world of single case outcome evaluation into the realm of large-scale, experimentally based, outcome research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Cochrane, A. (1972). Effectiveness and efficiency: Random reflections on health services. London: Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust.
Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). (2015). Educational policy and accreditation standards. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Drisko, J. (2017). Active collaboration with clients: An under-emphasized but vital part of evidence-based practice. Social Work, 62(2), 114–121.
Drisko, J. (2013). Research evidence and social work practice: The place of evidence-based practice. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42(2), 123–133.
Drisko, J., & Grady, M. (2015). Evidence-based practice in social work: A contemporary perspective. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(3), 274–282.
Gambrill, E. (2001). Social work: An authority-based profession. Research on Social Work Practice, 11, 166–175.
Gibbs, L. (2002). Evidence-based practice for the helping professions: A practical guide. New York: Brooks-Cole.
Gilgun, J. (2005). The four cornerstones of evidence-based practice. Research on Social Work Practice, 15(1), 52–61.
Grady, M. D., & Drisko, J. (2014). Thorough clinical assessment: The hidden foundation of evidence-based practice. Families in Society, 95(1), 5–14.
Greenhalgh, T., Howick, J., & Maskrey, N. (2014). Evidence-based medicine: A movement in crisis? British Medical Journal [BMJ], 348, g3725.
Guyatt, G., Rennie, D., Meade, M., & Cook, D. (2008). Preface to users’ guides to the medical literature: Essentials of evidence-based clinical practice (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hartman, A. (1994). Many ways of knowing. In W. Reid & E. Sherman (Eds.), Qualitative research in social work (pp. 459–463). Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Levingston, I., & Tozzi, J. (2018, February 14). Health prices to outpace inflation for first time since 2010. Bloomberg News. Retrieved from www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-14/health-prices-to-outpace-inflation-for-first-time-since-2010
Lietz, C., & Zayas, L. E. (2010). Evaluating qualitative research for social work practitioners. Advances in Social Work, 11(2), 188–202.
Littell, J., Corcoran, J., & Pillai, V. (2008). Systematic reviews and meta-analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
Patton, M. (2015, June 29). U.S. health care costs rise faster than inflation. Forbes. Retrieved from www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2015/06/29/u-s-health-care-costs-rise-faster-than-inflation/#656c49396fa1
Petr, C. (Ed.). (2009). Multidimensional evidence-based practice: Synthesizing knowledge, research, and values. New York: Routledge.
Proctor, E., Knudsen, K., Fedoravicius, N., Hovmand, P., Rosen, A., & Perron, B. (2007). Implementation of evidence-based practice in community behavioral health: Agency director perspectives. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 34, 479–488.
Sackett, D., Rosenberg, W., Muir Gray, J. A., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Editorial: Evidence-based medicine: What it is and what it isn’t. British Medical Journal, 312, 71–72.
Stetler, C., & Caramanica, L. (2007). Evaluation of an evidence-based practice initiative: Outcomes, strengths and limitations of a retrospective, conceptually-based approach. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 4(4), 187–199.
Tanenbaum, S. (2003). Evidence-based practice in mental health: Practical weakness meets political strengths. Journal of Evidence in Clinical Practice, 9, 287–301.
Thyer, B. (2011). Evidence-based practice versus practice-based research. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work and Research, Tampa, FL, January 15, 2011.
Trinder, L. (2000). A critical appraisal of evidence-based practice. In L. Trinder & S. Reynolds (Eds.), Evidence-based practice: A critical appraisal (pp. 212–241). Ames, IA: Blackwell Science.
Westen, D. (2006). Transporting laboratory validated treatments to the community will not necessarily produce better outcomes. In J. Norcross, L. Beutler, & R. Levant (Eds.), Evidence-based practices in mental health (pp. 383–392). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Drisko, J.W., Grady, M.D. (2019). Conclusion: The Evidence for Evidence-Based Practice. In: Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Social Work. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15224-6_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15224-6_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15223-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15224-6
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)