Evidence Based Practice
Evidence based practice began with a research
project, which analyzed study environments of first year occupational therapy
students at Touro University Nevada. Four different environments were assessed
upon levels of reading comprehension, consisting of home, quiet, noisy, and
outdoor environments. The research team hypothesized a quiet academic
environment would be the most effective and utilized. Our evidence disproved
our hypothesis finding out that students preferred studying at home in
comparison to a quiet academic place to study. This was a solid
foundation to learn how evidence based practice is used and implemented in
occupational therapy. Evidence
based practice will broaden the understanding of interventions used within
the practice of occupational therapy. Future assignments will utilize the
research techniques learned during first semester, to effectively search and
make use of the evidence found. Past research courses have made the material
confusing and have been irrelevant to the interests of the students. This class
defined the meaning of evidence and acknowledge the importance of scholarly
articles to provide evidence for future interventions.