1. Promoting EBP skills in OT: a collaborative education approach
Ted Brown
Assoc. Prof. Occupational Therapy
Paula Todd
MNHS Subject Librarian
Allie Ford
MNHS Learning Skills Adviser
I will be talking about how we are promoting evidence based practice in occupational therapy using a team approach between the library and teaching staff in the department.

2. + 1000 hrs practical fieldwork
Focus is on improving independence by helping people engage with daily occupations
Allied health 4-year
(UG honours)
or 2-year (PG) course
Academic education
hrs practical fieldwork
Who knows what occupational therapists do?
OT’s work in a variety of situations, hospitals, private clinics, community centres, schools, workplaces.
OT’s work with clients from babies to the elderly. Eg. Stroke patients with limited use of arm – techniques for dressing and tying shoe laces / children with writing problems – pencil grip techniques
Hours of placement = Nurses minimum 800 hours
OT specific databases – they rely on evidence from a range of health professions
Medical, social and educational
Young profession with
emerging research base

3. Evidence-based practice (EBP)
By: Vic (hang_in_there) [
EBM – EBE – EBL?
If we ask 10 clinicians working in different disciplines they would all have different definitions.
but integration of these areas is important – certain cultural /ethnic groups for example have strong views on the care or who delivers that care/ how it is delivered.
By:

4. EBP in the OT curriculum
No explicit EBP;
Library orientation
& drop-ins
EBP ‘building
skills’ unit
(explicit)
OCC3041
*EBP ‘getting
started’ unit
(explicit)
EBP ‘integrating
skills’ unit
(implicit)
2nd year is our focus – getting them to think about evidence and how it is used, why is it important
Librarian - How to find the evidence/ record search strategy for an assessment task worth 20%
LSA – identify methodologies / Appraise the evidence
Particular tool for appraisal -  Monash Occupational Therapy Research Evidence Critique Form (MOTRECF) related to quantitative/ quantitative studies to critique evidence
OCC2022 *in 2015 moving to 12 credit point unit

5. But… Image credit: Striatic(
Understanding the importance of EBP and how it is applicable in clinical practice Academic link – students frustrated – placement conflicting messages.
What happens when they view clinicians while on placement – is EBP an open practice in the workplace? – clinicians are time poor and often catch up after hours.
Connection between what they learn in university and clinical practice – thin. Want to be OT’s not researchers.
Skills decline once in clinical practice – particularly in private practice where access to resources may be more limited
Research in other medical areas (Medicine and OT) on this.
Image credit:Valerie Everett (

6. Idea of a video project and team effort to apply for grants.
What can we do?
Librarian and Learning Skills adviser increased our involvement in unit.
Idea of a video project and team effort to apply for grants.
Some things have improved but still room for more improvement:
Academically:
6 point to 12 credit point unit – involved in the marking
Increased hours of contact from 6 hours of tutorial time to 9 hours spread over the semester
scenario based learning – also introducing this in other units
Ted also included Primrose (qualitative ) academic integrating quant and qual (team teaching)
Addressing academic skills but still not the disconnect issue between university and clinical practice – want to be an OT not a researcher!
Thought about having experts talk to them about EBP – hard to get busy clinicians to come in.
Applied – and in 2014 successful in getting BTBL / Faculty / School of Primary Health grants to create a database of video interviews with clinicians in a variety of disciplines / patients / about their views and use of EBP in practice.
Working on changing the assessment in the new 12 point unit – using the video interviews as a learning tool ($20,000)
Currently have 21 videos – in the process of editing them – panel of academics to come

7. Questions we asked the clinicians…..
Background questions – what they do and where do they do it?
Career path – why they chose to become an OT
Inter-professional relationships – role in teams
Evidence based practice – how they use EBP in their work
Future direction of profession – changes impacting work
What advice do they give to students
Questions for videos - healthcare professionals (image credit
Background - Key question: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, what you do and how you got there
What’s your name?
Where did you complete your professional education and what type of degree did you complete?
Where do you currently work?
How long have you worked as a [healthcare professional]?
What is your current job title?
What’s your primary role/responsibilities?
How did you get into this role?
What type of clients do you typically work with?
Career path/employability  - Key question: Can you tell us why you chose to become a [xxx] and how it compares to what you expected?
What made you want to become a [healthcare professional]?
Is being a [healthcare professional] like you thought it would be? Why/why not?
What are two things you like about your current role as a [healthcare professional]?
What are two things you find challenging about your current role as a [healthcare professional]?
Interprofessional relationships - Key question: Tell us about other healthcare professionals you work with and what they bring to healthcare.
What other healthcare professionals do you work with in your current role?
Do you work on any health care teams, and if so, what is your role in these teams?
What challenges and benefits are there when working with other healthcare professionals to provide care to clients and their families?
Evidence-based practice - Key question: How do you use evidence in your work?
Health care professionals are encouraged to base the services they provide on sound, rigorous evidence; how do you define evidence-based practice?
How do you use evidence in your practice?
-       What types of evidence do you use?
-       How often do you refer to evidence?
Do you think evidence is important? Why? Why not?
Are there any barriers to EBP in your setting - and how do you overcome them?
What facilitates EBP in your setting?
How would you advise students to develop EBP skills?
Conclusion - Where to from here, for you and the profession?
What changes do you see occurring within your profession now and in the future?
Where do you hope to go with your [healthcare] career in the future?
What one piece of advice would you give to healthcare students?
Image credit:

8. What we still need to do….
Editing of the videos – ready for semester 2
Structure of unit – where/ how we will be involved
Assessment – what form this will take and where in the curriculum
Pre & post test / focus groups
Report writing for grants, article on project.
21 videos currently going through and writing up notes on the interviews, need to be edited into various forms
Whole video, selected grabs in topic headlines for various applications
How to use the videos, particularly the parts on EBP in the tutorials and lectures
Timetabling our involvement in the unit – how to structure to make the best use of time and what works best for the student
Assessments largely the same but video assessment is new – what form this will take, video, poster etc. (probably promotional – how would they – students – promote to other health professionals about EBP?)
Writing up reports for the grants, and article for publication

9. Collaboration can lead to other things…
Victorian Allied Health conference in Feb 2014 – poster
Co-authored chapter on searching for the evidence
3 people with expertise in our respective areas – trust – leads to equal partnership.