Teaching evidence-based practice using the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine methodology.

Entry-level occupational therapy therapists are expected to conduct evaluations and provide interventions that are both effective and cost-efficient. To help students achieve this goal by the time of graduation, educational programs in occupational therapy provide as many learning experiences as possible for gaining technical skills in performing evaluations and interventions on clients with real needs. However, technical skills alone do not equip the beginning therapist with the ability to deliver effective services. The health care community, including consumers and reimbursement agencies, expects therapists to know not only how to provide the intervention, but also the likelihood of its effectiveness. That is, the therapist must ask the following question: What evidence exists to show that a given intervention will work for a given client with unique needs and symptoms? When therapists have taken the time to investigate the scientific literature examining the effectiveness of an intervention and use this information along with the client’s perspective to guide their clinical decisions, they greatly enhance the likelihood of providing effective services. This process is referred to as evidence-based practice (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, & Haynes, 2000). Being an evidence-based practitioner is no small achievement for new graduates. A number of barriers may prevent clinicians from using the research evidence intended for them, including limited time and limited access to resources in many work environments (Law & Baum, 1998). A more important constraint may be a limited understanding of how to appraise research articles critically and draw reasonable conclusions about clients on the basis of the research evidence. Hence, how can faculty in occupational therapy programs help prepare students to provide evidence-based occupational therapy? Although many means exist to achieve this end, generally, entry-level therapists must acquire attitudes, knowledge, and skills that will aid in efficiently making use of the research evidence for guiding clinical decisions. The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) adopted several standards for entry-level occupational therapists, which can be summarized as follows: (a) valuing the role of research as a foundation for practice and development of the profession, (b) understanding basic statistics and research methods, (c) becoming skilled at accessing and consuming research evidence in the scientific literature. The aim of this article is to describe the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM) methodology for generating evidence about interventions used by occupational therapists or related rehabilitation professionals. This methodology is well suited for helping students develop the attitudes, knowledge, and skills set forth in the Standards for an Accredited Educational Program for the Occupational Therapist (ACOTE, 1999).