Impact of Evidence-Based Practice on Speech Language Pathology

Recently, there has been pressure on speech language pathologists to provide sound scientific evidence on the treatment decisions they make. With this pressure, speech language pathologists have sought to integrate evidence-based practice into the profession. Evidence-based practice is the incorporation of the most reliable scientific evidence with expertise and clients’ values (Douglas, 2013). Evidence-based practice informs clinicians who intend to engage in the best practice especially when in a dilemma on choosing the best way forward. It involves an evaluation of scientific literature as it regards a certain treatment approach or diagnostic protocol.

However, regardless of the following that evidence-based practice has garnered, it has not been easy to integrate by a majority of practitioners. Previous research shows that a majority of speech-language pathologists acknowledge the importance of evidence-based practice and have registered moderate to high confidence in the various aspects of evidence-based practice. Specific prowess has been registered in the retrieval of scientific evidence from numerous databases, identification of research designs employed in a study and assessment of the research quality (Douglas, 2013). Research, however, shows that there is insufficient time to do sufficient research and that resources were limited and sparse. These difficulties have been instrumental in shaping the relationship between evidence-based practice and speech language pathology. These problems are faced by various clinicians from every spectrum of healthcare providers.

In an effort to simplify the procedure of getting evidence and to overcome the barriers that are faced by speech-language pathologists, various measures have been put into place (Lemoncello & Ness, 2013). Organizations like Veterans’ Affairs (VA), the National Centre for Evidence-Based Practice in Communication Disorders (N-CEP), The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, The Cochrane and Campbell’s Collaboration and the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences help in conducting evidence-based systematic reviews on clinically sound issues in speech language pathology (Douglas, 2013) These reviews provide reports offering a concise view of the progress of a certain diagnostic or treatment protocol. The reviews are conducted in an open replicable manner to provide a time a time-saving option to the traditional evidence-based practice (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2007). By so doing, each report seeks to provide the most reliable and current evidence on the treatment of a certain population of patients, under specific circumstances.

Systematic reviews have been made available on a variety of electronic databases. These databases provide clinicians with a central point to seek evidence on a specific issue or population. They provide clinicians with places to get their questions answered by providing a systematic evidence on a specific issue and providing a link to the original research article (Stephens & Upton, 2012). The nature and number of studies included, quality of research conducted, characteristics of participants and research findings are also provided (Douglas, 2013).

One of the major shareholders of the speech language practice is the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). ASHA has been instrumental in integrating evidence-based practice into speech language practice (Kaderavek & Justice, 2010). The association has also been instrumental in ensuring that decisions are made based on the best available evidence. The main reason this has been so is to guarantee that ideal solutions are delivered to clients with disorders in communication and swallowing.

ASHA has created several frameworks towards the integration of evidence-based practice into speech-language pathology. First, the organization created N-CEP to help in the creation of systematic reviews to facilitate an easier and time saving access to evidence-based practice (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2007). Moreover, the organization has generated a database known as the Compendium of Systematic Reviews to facilitate the storage of systematic reviews for access by speech-language pathologists (Kaderavek & Justice, 2010). ASHA also informs speech-language pathologists about the importance of working with best scientific evidence and also provides research for this purpose. This involvement by ASHA has been very important in making the profession more evidence-based.

Making the profession more evidence-based is important for various reasons. Other than providing reliable information, integration of evidence-based research into the practice has been instrumental in creating more positive results in the profession. Availability of information means that there are solutions to numerous issues in the profession (Kaderavek & Justice, 2010). If a solution to an issue is pursued and found, chances of resolving the issue are increased.

Sometimes evidence-based practice is life changing and lifesaving. When time is vital to the survival of an individual, the role of evidence-based practice is amplified. Sometimes evidence-based research is required in making urgent decisions (Lemoncello & Ness, 2013). If the right decision is made based on available scientific evidence, a life may be saved. This may also result in savings for the patient and the family in their bid to get their patient treated.

With time, there has been increasing realization of the role of evidence in making decisions. This realization has created a sense of urgency among clinicians to learn the ins and outs of evidence-based practice (Stephens & Upton, 2012). Major instruments that have been important in the implementation based practice are finding, analyzing and retrieving important information from scientific databases on various platforms. Practitioners who are unable to get access to information may not be able use this practice. They are also required to determine the reliability of research based on its various instruments. Getting access to various studies enables practitioners to obtain the most reliable solution (Lemoncello & Ness, 2013). Systematic reviews have made the process of determinant the best solution even easier. Organizations have been created to keep track on various studies and generate an overview of the current state of events. This has really helped to transform the practice to becoming more and more evidence-based.

In conclusion, speech-language pathology has been transforming and becoming more evidence-based. This has been based mainly on the pressure that has required them to show evidence for the various decisions they make. To their aid have been organizations like ASHA which have helped by creating systematic reviews and making them available through their databases. ASHA has also been very important in providing information to practitioners with regard to the best way to utilize evidence-based practice. This has also improved the demand for new study materials and an increased awareness of the various modes of treatment that may applied along with their challenges and strengths.

References

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,. (2007). Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology. doi:10.1044/policy.sp2007-00283

Douglas, N. (2013). Supporting Speech-Language Pathologist Evidence-Based Practice Use: A Mixed-Methods Study in Skilled Nursing Facilities within the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services Framework. Scholar Commons. Retrieved 5 January 2015, from http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5860&context=etd

Kaderavek, J., & Justice, L. (2010). Fidelity: An Essential Component of Evidence-Based Practice in Speech-Language Pathology. Am J Speech Lang Pathol, 19(4), 369. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2010/09-0097)

Lemoncello, R., & Ness, B. (2013). Evidence-Based Practice & Practice-Based Evidence Applied to Adult, Medical Speech-Language Pathology. Perspect Gerontol, 18(1), 14. doi:10.1044/gero18.1.14

Stephens, D., & Upton, D. (2012). Speech and language therapists’ understanding and adoption of evidence-based practice. Int J Therapy Rehab, 19(6), 328-332. doi:10.12968/ijtr.2012.19.6.328