5. “There is a gap between today’s scientific advances & their
application, between what we know & what is actually being done.”
-LEE Jong-wook, WHO Director-General (WHO,2006)
“Bridging the know-do gap is one of the most important challenges
for public health in this century.”
(WHO, 2006)
Research-Practice Gap
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6. “Implementing research knowledge in every-day practice is
the most challenging step of evidence-based practice”
(Ilott,2012)
Use of evidence in every-day practice remains challenging
(Upton, et al., 2014)
Implementing EBP is complicated & requires whole system
change (Burke & Gitlin, 2012)
Increasing emphasis on the use of evidence in practice.
(AOTA, 2007; King, Wright & Russell, 2011)
Research-Practice Gap
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7. Recommendations:
• Link: Education - Research - Practice
(AOTA, 2007)
• Collaborate & Partner
(Burke & Gitlin, 2012; Lin, Murphy, & Robinson, 2010)
• Measure Outcomes Routinely (systematically)
(MacDermid, Law, Michlovitz, 2014; Schaaf, 2015)
• Measure Outcomes of Participation
(Law, 2002; Schaaf, 2015)
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9. Innovative Framework
• Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM)
• Systematic process
• Organize and guide reasoning
• Measure outcomes
(Schaaf, 2015)
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10. Identifying the Person’s Strengths
and Participation Challenges
Conducting the Comprehensive
Assessment
Generating Hypotheses
Developing and Scaling Goals
Identifying Outcome Measures
Setting the Stage for Intervention
Conducting the Intervention
Measuring Outcomes and Monitoring
Progress
Data Driven Decision Making
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16. Methods
• Design:
• Pre-post design quasi-experimental
• Participants
• Students: n = 6 (second year entry-Level)
• Fieldwork Educators: n = 3
• Measures
• Pre/Post Survey
• Rubric
• Focus group
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19. Results: Hypothesis 1
“Significant improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and
perceived skill…”
Statistically significant positive change p<0.05:
• Students’ knowledge and skills in the area of being
“aware of how to use DDDM”
Positive change (approached significance):
• Attitude: Using DDDM is useful
• Access & Use of DDDM tools
• Knowledge & Skill
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20. Results: Hypothesis 2
“Improved skill in the use of evidence and data to guide
occupational therapy practice…”
Statistically significant positive change:
• Students’ skill in use of evidence and data to guide
occupational therapy practice (t=-2.633, p<0.05)
• Measured by the change in the score on the rubric
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25. References
• American Occupational Therapy Association. (2007). AOTA’s centennial vision and
executive summary. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 613-614.
• Burke, J. P., & Gitlin, L. N. (2012). How do we change practice when we have the
evidence? American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66, e85-e88.
• Ilott, I. (2012). Evidence‐based practice: A critical appraisal. Occupational Therapy
International, 19, 1-6.
• Jette, D. U., Bacon, K., Batty, C., Carlson, M., Ferland, A., Hemingway, R. D., Volk,
D. (2003). Evidence-based practice: Beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of
physical therapists. Physical Therapy, 83, 786-805.
• King, G., Wright, V., & Russell, D. J. (2011). Understanding paediatric rehabilitation
therapists' lack of use of outcome measures. Disability and Rehabilitation, 33,
2662-2671.
Thomas Jefferson University Department of Occupational Therapy
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26. References
• Law, M. (2002). Participation in the occupations of everyday life. American Journal
of Occupational Therapy, 56, 640-649.
• Lin, S. H., Murphy, S. L., & Robinson, J. C. (2010). Facilitating evidence-based
practice: Process, strategies, and resources. American Journal of Occupational
Therapy, 64, 164-171.
• MacDermid, J. C., Law, M., & Michlovitz, S. L. (2014). Outcome measurement in
evidence-based rehabilitation (5th ed.). In M. Law, & J. MacDermid, Evidence-
Based Rehabilitation (pp. 65-104). Thorofare: Slack.
• Sackett, D.L., Straus, S.E., Richardson, W.S., Rosenberg, W., & Haynes, R.B. (2000).
Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach EBM (2nd ed.). Edinburgh:
Churchill Livingstone.
Thomas Jefferson University Department of Occupational Therapy
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27. References
• Schaaf, R. C. (2015). Creating evidence for practice using data-driven decision
making. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(2), 6902360010p1-
6902360010p6.
• Schaaf, R. C., & Mailloux, Z. (2015). Promoting participation for children with
autism: A clinician's guide for implementing Ayres Sensory Integration. Bethesda,
MD: AOTA Press.
• Upton, D., Stephens, D., Williams, B., & Scurlock-Evans, L. (2014). Occupational
therapists' attitudes, knowledge, and implementation of evidence-based practice: A
systematic review of published research. The British Journal of Occupational
Therapy, 77, 24-38.
• World Health Organization. (2006). Bridging the know-do gap meeting on
knowledge translation in global health (conference proceedings). Retrieved from
World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/kms/WHO_EIP_KMS_2006_2.pdf
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