Editor’s Note:  A therapist applicant, of ours, Angela Benfield, has asked us for help to find SLP, OT, PTs who would be interested in participating in a survey being conducted for her dissertation.   The survey will ask you to answer questions about your thinking processes (e.g clinical reasoning) that you use when developing an intervention plan with a client.   It looks very interesting. The survey will take approximately 90 minutes to 2 hours to complete.  No compensation is offered but you will get a certificate that you participated in 2 hours of research for continuing education purposes.
 

I am completing my PhD in Health Sciences with an emphasis in EBP, measuring outcomes, and clinical reasoning.  My background is as a pediatric occupational therapist for 19 years. With my clinical experiences and in discussions with other allied health colleagues, I have come to the conclusion that we are faced with a difficult issue in balancing evidence, clinical experience, and patient values as much of our “evidence” is not like physician EBP- there is much more uncertainty and dependance on the clinician’s thinking process due to the limited number of strong clinical guidelines (though the number has increased significantly in the past 10 years).
In evidence based practice, the clinical practitioner is expected to make decisions about how to promote health by integrating best available evidence, clinical expertise, and the patient’s preferences, values, and goals. Much research has been done on assessing the “use of evidence” by clinicians, however no research has been published exploring the thinking processes of the clinical practitioners who are making the decision. Therefore, this study is asking you, the practicing professional, to tell us about your typical thinking processes (e.g. clinical reasoning) that you use when developing an intervention plan with a client. By completing this survey, you will be providing vital information which currently is not available.
Who can participate?  Any PT, OT, SLP, or Social Worker who has completed their national exam (when applicable), are licensed to practice with clients, and develop and provide treatment interventions. Simply click on the link below, or cut and paste the entire
URL into your browser to access the survey:

Survey link:https://milwaukee.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0fiB8RvlSJRMZJH