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How Do We Integrate Research Into Occupational Therapy Practice?

Lisa Juckett, MOT, OTR/L

June 1, 2019

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How do we integrate research into occupational therapy practice?

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Implementation science researchers have found that interactive hands-on workshops are good for giving therapists the confidence and skill to integrate research into practice, to use evidence and interventions the way that they are intended with their patients, and also give them the skills to be able to adapt interventions as needed. We know that one size does not fit all. This is another reason why I think that there is a gap between research and practice. With research, everything is highly controlled and predictable, however this is not so in practice. Audit and feedback procedures have also been found pretty useful in terms of figuring out what therapists are actually doing and trying to encourage them to use evidence in practice more often. This is a researcher or an administrator looking at patient charts and looking specifically for buzzwords that indicate the therapist is using research and evidence-based practice with their patients, and that they are documenting it. Documenting evidence-based practice shows insurance companies that these patients are receiving the best care. Educational meetings or conferences have been found to be moderately helpful. We talked briefly about the value of EBP mentors and champions. This is appointing somebody or having somebody volunteer to be an expert or champion in your facility. For example, if you have a new NMES device, the next step is finding somebody that wants to be the mentor and is well-trained on the device, knows what patients are appropriate, and can help troubleshoot the device if something goes wrong. Of course, manualized protocols can be helpful, but we also know that we are not a one size fits all type of field. This tactic can provide comfort to people when a new intervention is being introduced. Finally, we talked about the beauty of having access to different online resources and materials to give us more access to the research that is out there.


lisa juckett

Lisa Juckett, MOT, OTR/L

Lisa Juckett has practiced primarily in the adult rehabilitation setting and currently provides instruction in orthopedics and neuromusculoskeletal rehab for The Ohio State University’s Occupational Therapy Division. Ms. Juckett has delivered numerous continuing education lectures and presentations at the local and national level for professional organizations such as The American Occupational Therapy Association, The Gerontological Society of America, and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. She also has served as the outcomes assessor for research related to post-stroke upper extremity interventions through the Better Rehabilitation and Assessment for Improved Neuro-Recovery (B.R.A.I.N.) laboratory. She has extensive teaching experience in the clinical and academic setting and is currently pursuing her PhD at Ohio State. 


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