Browsing by Subject "practice-based evidence"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Fostering evidence-based practice in community-based rehabilitation: strategies for implementation
    (2015-08) Buchanan, Helen; Lorenzo, Theresa; Law, Mary
    Occupational therapists around the world are taking up the challenge to implement an evidence-based practice approach to the development of occupational therapy services. The emphasis in applying evidence-based practice within occupational therapy has been strongly biomedical in focus. In South Africa, many occupational therapists work in communities where their work is largely community-based rehabilitation. With no examples of how evidence-based practice can be applied in such settings, therapists have struggled with how it may be used to inform their practice. This paper explores the concepts of evidence-based practice and community-based rehabilitation, and illustrates how evidence-based practice can be applied within community-based rehabilitation. Examples are provided to show how evidence-based practice can realistically be applied in community-based rehabilitation programmes with the intention of empowering therapists to begin using evidence as a basis for their practice. It further explores how evidence-based practice can be used by occupational therapists to inform decision-making related to the development of community-based rehabilitation programmes and services.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Practice-based evidence: evaluating the quality of occupational therapy patient records as evidence for practice
    (2016-04) Buchanan, Helen; Jelsma, Jennifer; Siegfried, Nandi
    Background: Occupational therapy patient records are required for legal purposes, but may also be used to produce evidence for practice. Our aim was to establish how comprehensively occupational therapists documented patient records. Methodology: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of occupational therapists at public health facilities in a South African province. Trained raters audited five randomly-drawn records per participant using a checklist developed for the study. The maximum possible score was nine and the lowest was zero. Audits were checked for consistency. Results: Forty-nine occupational therapists participated and 240 records were audited. Records contained information on intervention (96%) and changes occurring at impairment (82%) and activity and participation levels (64%). Documentation of baseline assessment (impairment level: 20%; activity and participation level: 10.4%) and re-assessment (impairment level: 7%; activity and participation level: 0.0%) was limited. Audit scores were significantly better in the work practice area (H=16.10, p=0.003) and among therapists in urban areas (U=24.50, p<0.001).There was a significant negative correlation between audit score and number of clients seen per month (rs=-0.46, p<0.001). Conclusion: The low audit scores suggest that the records did not contain sufficient information to produce robust evidence. Manageable ways of documenting occupational therapy practice need to be devised.