Evidence Based Practice   Tags: evidence based, hk304  

In a clinical environment, Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is a thoughtful integration of the best available evidence, coupled with clinical expertise.

Silagy and Haines (1998) describe evidence-based health care as an approach that 'takes account of evidence at a population level as well as encompassing interventions concerned with the organisation and delivery of health care'.

Reference:
Silagy, C & Haines, A 1998, Evidence-based practice in primary care, London, BMJ Books.

There are several different kinds of articles frequently found in the literature for medical and health sciences. 

• Case report – a description of a particular service or event, often focusing on unusual aspects of the reported situation or adverse occurrences.
• Case series – a description of more than one case.
• Case-control study – An observational study in which the cases have the issue of interest (e.g. successful literature searching) but the controls do not.
• Cohort study – An observational study of a particular group over a period of time.
• Randomised Controlled Trial – An experimental study in which users are randomly allocated to one of two or more options, where some get the option of interest and others get another option (e.g. a standard service).
• Systematic review – An approach that involves capturing and assessing the evidence by some systematic method, where all the components of the approach and the assessment are made explicit and documented.
• Meta-analysis - A method of synthesising the data from more than one study, in order to produce a summary statistic.

Source:  Booth A & Brice A (2004) Evidence Based Practice for Information Professionals: A Handbook. London: Facet Publishing.

Randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses are considered to be stronger forms of evidence and will be more desirable for your final paper.