EBP: What Is It & Will It Benefit My Child?

Evidence-based practice is an approach in which clinicians integrate high-quality research with clinical expertise and client preferences and values to ensure high-quality services. Evidence-based practice may be used during the evaluation and therapy processes. The clinician should utilize evidence-based practice throughout the entire therapeutic process (i.e., evaluation through discharge).

Evidenced-Based Practice utilizes three components:

1. Clinical expertise
2. Evidence (external and internal)
3. Client/Patient/Caregiver perspectives

A break-down of each component:

1. Clinical Expertise – The knowledge, judgment, and critical reasoning acquired through the clinician’s training and professional experiences.
2. For example, a clinician may reflect on their experiences of diagnosing, treating, and learning about childhood apraxia of speech to create an appropriate care plan for a client with a new diagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech.
3. Evidence – The best available information gathered from the scientific literature (external evidence) and/or data and observations collected from your client (internal evidence).
4. For example, clinicians may find peer-reviewed research articles that support a treatment approach (external evidence). The clinician may have collected data from previous clients they treated when utilizing a specific treatment approach (internal evidence).
5. Client/Patient/Caregiver Perspectives – The unique set of personal and cultural circumstances, values, priorities, and expectations identified by your client and their caregivers.
6. For example, there may be several effective treatment strategies that research suggests; however, the clinician should consider the client’s personal and cultural circumstances when deciding if the treatment strategy will be beneficial.

Will evidence-based practice benefit my child?

Yes, a child will benefit from evidence-based practice as it allows the clinician to maintain the knowledge and skills that are necessary for high-quality services. Furthermore, evidence-based practice allows the clinician to recognize the needs and preferences of your child while incorporating evidence-based therapeutic strategies. Without evidence-based practice, your child may receive therapy that delays progress.

-Samantha Graffius, M.S., CF-SLP

Reference: https://www.asha.org/research/ebp/