Evidence-based health care is the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients or the delivery of health services. Current best evidence is up-to-date information from relevant, valid research about the effects of different forms of health care, the potential for harm from exposure to particular agents, the accuracy of diagnostic tests, and the predictive power of prognostic factors. Evidence-based clinical practice is an approach to decision-making in which the clinician uses the best evidence available, in consultation with the patient, to decide upon the option which suits that patient best. Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research (Taken from Cochrane Collaboration http://www.cochrane.org/docs/ebm.htm).
In many states counseling and therapy is moving to only approved evidenced based practices. Art therapy can either follow evidenced based practice designed for general therapists such as motivational interviewing for treating Alcoholism of CBT for depression. In order to assess your own practice, take a look at evidenced based practiced (EBP) with specific populations. Your future work may be dependent on it!!!
One way of developing EBP is reviewing global literature on a subject and then developing a best practices. These search engines help assist that process. Or look up EBP on google.
www.scholar.google.com
www.findarticles.com
www.cochrane.org
www.clinicalevidence.com
www.bmj.com
www.MedScape.com
www.jstage.jst.go.jp
www.doaj.org
Megan
Megan Robb, MA, ATR-BC, LPC
Board Certified Art Therapist
National Institutes of Health
Clinical Center
Room 1-2420
10 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
301/451-7588
Robbme@cc.nih.gov
