Blog 4b: Evidence-Based Practice

What do I, someone who is not currently a practitioner in the field, know about the term evidence-based practice? Well, if I remember anything that was taught to me in elementary school it’s to try reading any context clues when I stumble upon a word I don’t know. So, prepare to bear witness of my inability to properly guess what evidence-based practice means before I resort to the internet 😭.

I believe a synonym for the word ‘evidence’ is proof. If you have proof that your significant other is cheating, then you also have evidence they’re cheating. Hmm, not the cheeriest example 😬 but it’ll do.

Let’s see… I’ll jump to the word ‘practice’ next. I should hope we all know what the word practice means, but for the sake of committing to the little exercise I’ve started, let us continue. To practice something, is kind of like repeating some sort of action, right? If you’re practicing playing a specific position in a sport-let’s say goalie in soccer-then you’re repeating the skills that you were taught necessary in order to play as an effective goalie for your soccer team. You were practicing being a goal. I hope I was able to use my syntax effectively 😅.

Anyway, that was just one mediocre definition of the word ‘practice’. The word still holds another meaning. The word practice can refer to the work one does in any given profession. Big example right off the bat is when we hear someone refer to social work practice. Another example that comes to my mind is when a lawyer states they are no longer practicing law.

Alright, now that I worked through the meanings of those two words, let’s try to define the entire term, Evidence-Based Practice. Evidence-based practice is work or research that relies on proof or evidence of efficiency… So, how did I do? Nevermind, don’t answer. I read that back to myself aloud, I know it sounded terrible. Moving on!

It’s just about time for me to turn to my old friend the Google search engine, but before I do more research about the term ‘Evidence-Based Practice’, I will consider what I already know or heard about it. I know that evidence-based practice is brought up a lot in the social work classes I’ve taken during my undergrad, as well as the classes I’m currently taking. I heard that evidence-based practice is important to the field of social work, alongside many other professions.

I suppose the next question I should answer is if I think evidence-based practice is of any use to my current field of practice. As of currently, I provide 1:1 ABA sessions as a Registered Behavioral Therapist (RBT) for children with an ASD diagnosis. I’m not sure what field that necessarily fits under but, with all things considered, I definitely think evidence-based practice has played a huge role in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. The training courses I’ve had to complete for this position talked a lot about Skinner, and Pavlov, and all of these not-so-random scientists, that I am just left believing 100% that evidence-based practice is a big reason why work in ABA therapy is available.

The next logical thing to ask myself would be if I feel competent in practicing as an evidence-based social worker. To which I would answer honestly: In this exact moment, no. My reasoning for this is simple. I have not obtained my MSW yet, meaning there is still so much for me to learn, being an evidence-based social worker is one of those things. But I will place my trust in my university’s MSW program, in my professors, and in the process. But more importantly, I will place the most trust in myself, because only I have the power to determine my own fate. If I slack too much; if I procrastinate too long; if I allow myself to struggle without asking for help. These are all things that can get in the way of me graduating as an msw, if I let them. If I grant them the opportunity.

Here’s a fun question: how do we as social workers incorporate evidence-based practice into our work and does it really matter?

One of the ways in which we incorporate evidence-based practice into our work is by making decision that are well-informed based off of evidence-based practice. Another way in which we incorporate this kind of practice into our work as social workers is how we can use it to help us prioritize interventions that we believe are effective. Evidence-based practice matters tremendously in our field. A reason why Evidence-based practice matters in our field is because it helps us stay updated through the use of research interventions. Another reason why Evidence-based practice matters in social work is because when it comes to understanding the risks and effectiveness of many treatments, the utilization of evidence-based practice assists us and our comprehension of treatments’ risks and effectiveness.

(I finally conducted a thorough search and found that Evidence-Based Practice is “a process in which the practitioner combines well-researched interventions with clinical experience, ethics, client preferences, and culture to guide and inform the delivery of treatments and services.” (NASW, 2020).)