DOI
10.1080/10437797.2016.1260505

Summary
his study is concerned with evidence based practice (EBP) in a social work environment. The focus of this review is based on the community-based approaches for generating evidence appropriate for ethic populations. A 9-hour EBP educational model aimed at developing student knowledge on working with multicultural client populations. Student assignments are utilised for the demonstration of the pedagogical value in being a valuable learning strategy (EBP). Wong describes the EBP module from personal experience of setting up an EBP and some background literature associated with the topic.

The EBP [in conjunction with Person In Environment (PIE)] and PBL methods prescribed for the social work module are detailed below – full descriptions (associated specifically with social care) can be found in tables 1, 2 and 3.



EBP



“General Strategy for Using Socratic Dialogue-Based Discussions

Open discussion topics with purpose driven questions to allow students to initially share and accumulate their own knowledge on the topics creating an environment that values autonomous and critical thinking on concepts and issues.
Guide students’ thinking process by drawing out more ideas and helping them to formulate their points into conceptual frameworks.
Validate students’ observations and ideas by giving examples from the instructor’s and others’ research that illustrate and support their points, especially those regarding limitations in research findings and unethical use of research.
Close discussions by presenting the framework or concept that was the aim of the discussion and asking students to evaluate if it matches or complements the frameworks they created.

Week 1

Ask students what they want and need from research to assist their work with clients and advance their profession (i.e., request that they take responsibility).
Lead students to conceptualize the role of EBP in social work and design their own EBP decision-making model, targeting convergence with the original model.
Guide students to formulate a hierarchy of evidence that is consistent with existing hierarchies by classifying research designs learned previously into the hierarchical levels.
Lead students to identify their personal values regarding the use of EBPs and identify the ethical standards from the Code of Ethics at play regarding EBP decision making, guiding them to see equivalences between personal values and the ethical principles.
Lead students to conceptualize how to apply the EBP model in a step-by-step process, concluding with providing the paper assignment instructions.

Week 2

Guide students in critiquing the applicability of an exemplary EBP considered to be effective for minority populations to illustrate problems associated with the poor cultural validity of scales and interventions developed in mainstream samples and to identify the limitations and potential consequences of applying evidence levels strictly.
Lead students to assimilate a framework for critiquing the appropriateness and limitations of EBP for minority groups and understanding the potential role of emic and community-based participatory research approaches in social work by presenting a hypothetical case and an example of an emic, community-based investigation.

Week 3

Guide students to conceptualize how they would incorporate a client’s characteristics, preferences, and values into decision making, targeting a match between their model and a known cultural competence framework in a PIE perspective”.



PBL



“General Strategy for Applying Functional and Academic Knowledge

Require students to define a question regarding needed research-based information and search for this information to address a specific client’s mental health problem.
Require students to link academic knowledge with practice by applying knowledge gained during foundation-year course work, including basic research concepts, a cultural competence framework, and the person-in-environment model.
Introduce students to and require them to apply emic and community-based participatory research designs.

Week 1

Require students to integrate concepts from the foundation-year research course relevant to EBP decision making, including assigning research designs to levels of evidence and evaluating limitations in research approaches, sampling procedures, and so on.
Ask students to define their search question and search for needed information (e.g., “What interventions can help in treating the mental health problem of my client given the client’s desired means and outcomes of treatment and racial/ ethnic background?”)
Teach students to use EBP and systematic review databases (Cochrane Library and National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices) to support their information searches.
Introduce concepts of readiness for dissemination and implementation science and ask students to define their search question then search for needed information (e.g., “Can I obtain information and resources to become trained in conducting each intervention competently?”)

Week 3

Introduce students to emic and community-based research approaches and ask them to conceptualize the design of an intervention study from a culturally based standpoint for a specific population.
Ask students to apply the cultural competence framework to a client to gain information about the client’s characteristics, preferences, and values; then they justify their decision on the most appropriate intervention.”

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This review is relevant to the community development topic. It offers a step by step process of the EBP (+PIE) and PBL method. These methods may be useful in a similar teaching context as they provide students with the opportunity to learn in an experiential manner requiring them to use aspects of systems thinking to comprehend the various challenges they are presented with in the learning process. The method above is derived from Tables 2 and 3.

Point of Strength
The article is useful for teachers in masters of social work (MSW) programs but could also be deemed useful for other programs if realigned with the learning objectives e.g. sustainable communities. The EBP aspect of the study could implemented in a range of formats.

Wong makes a personal observation that EBP in conjunction with Person In Environment (PIE) offers potential for a fresh outlook on the process. This may be useful on future implementation of similar teaching methods. Wong also draws attention to Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and how it is the recommended pedagogical approach to enhance the EBP process. The EBP (PIE) & PBL methods are detailed in step by step format.