Final Reflection

Evidence-based Practice
To define evidence-based practice, it is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of
current best evidence to make decisions about the care of individual clients. The main aim of
evidence-based practice is to provide good client outcomes, to improve knowledge, and to keep a
practicing occupational therapist accountable. It is very important to stay current on evidence to
provide overall the best possible treatment for the client.
Throughout the course of this program, I have gained skills on how to search for
applicable articles. For studies about treatment effectiveness, strength of evidence must be
determined by the size of the effect, the confidence level of the observed effect, and the number
of studies confirming the results. With this in mind, research throughout the course of this
program required time, detail, and practice
For the quantitative research paper, my group and I studied whether attention span is
affected by background noise when studying. Our subjects included our whole cohort. With the
quantitative results, we were able to come to the conclusion that there are various types of
background noises that affect attention span. For the qualitative research paper, my group and I
studied the effects of graduate school and marriage, students perception of quality of life. We
interviewed several students in our cohort that fit the inclusion criteria. Several themes were
concluded in this study; however, the most interesting one to me was that most significant others
helped imporve the students quality of life by being a support system throughout graduate
school. Finally, for the systematic review, my partner and I asked the question, Do motor
imagery programs improve motor skills in children with motor coordination problems? The
conclusion of this study is to continue with further research to determine a definite answer.

With these research projects and also with all assignments throughout this program, I
have learned how important current research is. I have read numerous articles and have increased
my ability to find consistent, and effective research. Requirements for evidence in most, if not
all assignments, have increased my confidence in finding evidence that I can utilize and apply in
future practice. Evidence-based practice is crucial to this profession. Evidence guides strong
clinical reasoning. When I treat my clients, I want to be able to explain and support my goals,
treatment, and discharge plans with evidence. I plan to continue increasing my evidence-based
knowledge throughout my career as an occupational therapist.