Implementing Evidence-Based Social Work Practice

TLDR

Social work is increasingly influenced by new practice frameworks, notably evidence‑based practice, which promises to integrate research and practice but remains underused in practice. The study aims to identify effective strategies for disseminating, adopting, and implementing evidence‑based practice in social work. The authors review implementation literature, outline alternative strategies, illustrate concepts with an implementation study, and identify research gaps.

Abstract

Recently, social work has been influenced by new forms of practice that hold promise for bringing practice and research together to strengthen the scientific knowledge base supporting social work intervention. The most recent new practice framework is evidence-based practice. However, although evidence-based practice has many qualities that might attract social workers to adopt it, use in practice is limited. Accordingly, attention is being given to determine effective strategies for the dissemination, adoption, and implementation of evidence-based practice. This article examines the implementation literature, describes alternative strategies for implementation of evidence-based practice in social work, describes an implementation study to illustrate concepts discussed, and specifies needed research.