It is important in decision-making, policy development, and the establishment of new programs in Social Work that these initiatives be supported by scientific evidence. Evidence-based practice is based on evaluation research that highlights interventions that have been found to be effective. Establishing the evidence-base involves either consulting secondary reviews of studies or synthesizing the results of single studies.

This module covers the emerging area of evidence-based Social Work with an emphasis on Aging.

It provides an opportunity to gain a comprehensive overview of concepts in best evidence, to understand distinctions between evidence-based medicine and evidence-based Social Work, to explore resources that provide evidence-based practice information, and to develop techniques for searching and finding research to support best evidence in the field of Aging.

Because some areas of Social Work "research are descriptive and (lack) a critical perspective...it may be difficult to find evaluative research on outcomes of methods...Sources of social work knowledge are diverse, with organizations, policy makers, professionals and users making valuable contributions, alongside research." (Braye, S. & Preston-Shoot, M., 2007 p. 313-315).

[Source: Braye, S. and Preston-Shoot, M. (2007). On systematic reviews in Social Work: Observations from teaching, learning and assessment of law in social work education. British Journal of Social Work 37 (313-334) ]

This module will try to deal with gaps and weaknesses in the knowledge base when compared to health sciences, other kinds of research to use if randomized control trials and systematic reviews are not available, and broader questions of values and ethics that also inform practice in Social Work.

Implied in the graph below is a hierarchy of Research Methods, with methodologies in medicine considered at a higher level than methodologies in Social Sciences:

[Source: Cournoyer, B. (2004). The evidence-based Social Work Skills Book.
Boston,Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.]