Physiotherapy: How to work with evidence in daily practice.

RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: The concept of evidence-based health care has gained increasing currency over the past decades; however, questions persist regarding how to overcome the gap between research and health care practice. The question arises whether this gap derives from a true knowledge deficit or from physiotherapists' perception of working with evidence. The aim of the current study was to illuminate changes to the meaning of working with evidence experienced by a cohort of physiotherapists following an education program.

METHODS

A phenomenological hermeneutic design with open-ended group interviews was carried out with physiotherapists who had participated in an education program about evidence and how to implement evidence-based practice (EBP) in day-to-day practice.

FINDINGS

The interviews provided descriptions of working with evidence according to three major themes: "Confidence with the concept of evidence in relation to a way of working"; "Experience of EBP as a duty to seek evidence for individual patients"; and "EBP experienced as an integrated and patient-oriented activity".

CONCLUSIONS

The physiotherapists' lived experiences demonstrated that the participants' perception of the concept of evidence mainly concerned a broadening of the definition of evidence, and this altered perception of evidence could interpreted as the physiotherapists viewing EBP as a more integrated and patient-oriented activity than before.