Organizing, evaluating, and using evidence in occupational therapy practice.

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy 537 The article, “Occupational T h e r a p i s t s’ Pe rceptions of Ev i d e n c e Based Practice,” by Dubouloz, Eg a n , Vallerand, and von Zweck, in this month’s issue of T h e American Jo u rnal of Occupational T h e ra py (A J OT®), is p e rfect for kicking off a new commentary on evidencebased practice in occupational therapy. As Associate Ed i t o r of Ev i d e n c e Based Practice, I and others will be commenting periodically about articles in A J OT as they relate to evidence-based practice as well as using the forum to inform the journal’s audience about issues that are particularly re le vant to evidence-based practice in our field. Evidence-based practice is gaining momentum in occupational therapy. In the summer of 1998, an entire issue of the Canadian Jo u rnal of Occupational T h e ra py, guest edited by Ma ry Law and Carolyn Baum (1998), was d e voted to the topic. At this ye a r’s American Oc c u p a t i o n a l Therapy Association Annual Conference and Exposition in Indianapolis, there we re several presentations with the term in the title, whereas in past years there we re almost none. The “Ev i d e n c e Based Practice Fo ru m” provides a timely venue with which to emphasize and convey information about this important emerging concept.