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The evidence-based practice (EBP) movement in medicine has permeated and affected a wide array of health and allied health care disciplines, and the field of rehabilitation is no exception. The purpose of this paper is to provide rehabilitation professionals up-to-date information about the defining characteristics and available resources of EBP for healthcare and rehabilitation practices, the critical issues that surround this movement, and the implications of this movement for the field of rehabilitation.
The concept of evidence-based practice (EBP) has assumed a central position in health and behavioral health care disciplines. Frequently defined as the "conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients" (Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996, p. 71), EBP has been described as "a movement, like the outcomes movement before it, of scientists, public officials, private payers, and advocacy groups that seek to establish a new knowledge regime in health services" (Tanenbaum, 2005, p. 163). Originating from the medical field in 1991, the term evidence-based medicine was established to ensure that medical research was systematically evaluated in a manner that could "inform medicine and save lives and that is superior to simply looking at the results of individual clinical trials" (Wampold & Bhati, 2004, p. 564). Soon after, the field of psychology paralleled these efforts with the development of empirically supported treatments by the American Psychological Association (APA, 1995). These are considered efficacious treatments for specific psychological disorders based on rigorous research (Chambless & Hollon, 1998; Wampold & Bhati, 2004). The APA's Division 12 (clinical psychology), for example, has published a list of 71 psychological treatments that are empirically validated (Chambless & Ollendick, 2001).
Today, EBP has permeated a wide array of health and allied health care disciplines as evidenced by several special issues published in psychology and healthcare journals. One driving force behind EBP is the financial pressure associated with the U.S. health care system. In response to skyrocketing health care costs, efforts have been underway to carefully review how resources are used and spent, to consolidate services, and to restructure reimbursement methods. The emergence of EBP in all facets of health care is deeply connected to both financial viability and efficiency of staff and resources. Health care administrators...