Becoming an evidence-based practitioner through professional development

Occupational therapy practitioners need to incorporate evidence-based practice into their professional role to remain competent, relevant and clinically effective. However, therapists may feel uncomfortable with the emphasis on evidence, may not know how to use it in practice and may not know where to start to develop the necessary skills. This paper explores these issues and proposes six strategies for continuing professional development which individual therapists can consider using or promoting to become evidence-based practitioners. These strategies are: (i) changing individual practitioner behaviours; (ii) changing consumer behaviours and expectations; (iii) using evidence about how best to get evidence into practice; (iv) developing institutional requirements for evidence-based practice; (v) supporting professional association initiatives; and (vi) using or developing local clinical guidelines. Each of these strategies is described in detail.