Dr Dragana Ceprnja1, Ms Melani Boyce1, Ms Tracey Clark1, Ms Katherine Maka1, Ms Cassandra Wong2
1Western Sydney Local Health District, Australia, 2University of Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Dr Dragana Ceprnja currently holds the positions of Health Professional Educator in physiotherapy at Westmead Hospital and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Dragana has led research with wide-reaching impact and has directly translated her research outcomes into clinical practice, with a focus on identifying and meeting the care needs of the western Sydney community. Dragana is regularly invited as a speaker at national and international conferences and has attracted significant competitive research funding. She is a clinical supervisor and mentor in her workplace and is dedicated to continuing to grow the research culture within Allied Health.
Abstract:
Background/Aims: Evidence based practice (EBP) improves patient outcomes, reduces healthcare costs and is a central pillar of modern health services. However, little is known about physiotherapists’ attitudes towards EBP. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and practice of EBP and to develop, implement and evaluate a tailored training program to address the barriers identified by physiotherapists.
Methods: A mixed-methods observational pre-post study design was adopted. Participants were physiotherapists who completed the Health Sciences Evidence Based Questionnaire (HSEBP), which consists of five domains: beliefs and attitudes, results from scientific research, development of professional practice, assessment of results, and barriers and facilitators. The results from the initial survey were used to develop a targeted education and training plan.
Results: Physiotherapists (N=33) scored highest on the beliefs and attitudes domain. The two lowest scoring domains of the HSEBP, results from scientific research and barriers and facilitators, were the focus of six targeted training sessions. Following the training, average improvements of 6.5 points (95%CI 2.8-10.1) and 7.1 points (95%CI 1.0-13.1) were reported for the domains of results from scientific research and barriers and facilitators respectively. Qualitative feedback from participants identified strategies to support further growth of EBP in clinical practice.
Discussion: A targeted education and training program for physiotherapists is effective in improving scores on the HSEBP. While physiotherapists report positive scores for beliefs and attitudes towards EBP, the findings suggest a bespoke program focused on addressing the identified barriers to EBP is very acceptable and feasible in a clinical setting.