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.