Inclusion of Evidence based Practice in Social Work

Evidence-based practice is defined as a process through which a practitioner combines clinical experience with well-research interventions/measures. Evidence-based practice has not only emerged as an important component in the modern healthcare sector but is also increasingly vital in social work practice. The increased significance of evidence-based practice in social work is attributable to the fact that social workers are constantly seeking well-researched studies to obtain information that enhances their knowledge base. Additionally, competent social work practitioners continue to look for a wide range of theoretical knowledge to enhance their experiences and practice. Therefore, social workers rely on evidence-base practice to enhance their knowledge base and practice.

Evidence-based research influences what a social worker may do in practice through providing a theoretical basis and foundation for practice. Social work practitioners draw from a wide range of evidence-based practice sources to determine what fits into a client's situation and to change their assumptions/approaches in response to the client's situation (Gilgun, 2005). In this regard, social workers utilize research to hypothesize what their clients could be suffering from and the most suitable responses to their clients' situations. Evidence obtained from research are utilized by social workers to continually test and change their assumptions and approaches based on their clients' situations and responses.

Research informs a social worker's application of the steps in the process of evidence-based practice through providing a theoretical foundation that governs his/her approaches. As previously indicated, research provides information that social workers utilize to test and change their assumptions and approaches. The examination and change in social work assumptions and approaches in turn informs how a social worker applies the steps in the process of evidence-based practice. In this case, social workers utilize the research to reflect on their personal views and practice, which in turn determines how they apply the steps in evidence-based practice. The second measure through which research informs a social worker's application of the steps in the process of evidence-based practice is the formulation of interventions for clients' situation. Social workers determine the kind of interventions to utilize in addressing a client's situation through examining research evidence. The interventions in turn determine the application of evidence-based steps in social work practice. Therefore, research informs application of evidence-based practice in social work through influencing assessments, decision-making, and interventions for clients' situations.

What Enables/Prevents Social Workers from Applying Research Findings to Practice

Even though evidence-based practice is emerging as an important component of social work practice, there are some factors that enable or hinder social workers from applying research findings to their practice. The factors that hinder a social work from applying research findings to his/her practice include issues of generalizability of the findings, making the study's findings relevant to the specific problem/issue, and immaturity of social sciences. Additionally, social workers' application of research findings into practice can also be hindered by educational factors. In this case, a social worker may not have the required skills and time to obtain and evaluate available data from research (Farley et al., 2009). While evidence-based practice has been recently included in social work curricula, most of the existing licensed social work practitioners do not have formal instruction in the skills and process of utilizing evidence-based practice. This implies that social workers struggle in applying research findings into their daily practice because of the lack of a strong foundation in research methods and data analysis, which enhances likelihood of misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the findings.

References

Farley et al. (2009). The Challenges of Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Ethical Considerations in Practice, Education, Policy, and Research. Social Work and Society -- International Online Journal, 7(2). Retrieved from http://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/76/335

Gilgun, J.F. (2005, January). The Four Cornerstones of Evidence-Based Practice in Social Work. Research on Social Work Practice, 15(1), 52-61.