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Research Pyramid: A New Evidence-Based Practice Model for Occupational Therapy

2011; American Occupational Therapy Association; Volume: 65; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5014/ajot.2011.000828

1943-7676

George Tomlin, Bernhard Borgetto,

Occupational Therapy Practice and Research

In the campaign to implement evidence-based practice, the current single-hierarchy model of levels of evidence fails to incorporate at parity all types of research evidence that are valuable in the practice of occupational therapy. A new model, originally developed by Borgetto et al. (2007) and modified and expanded, is presented. By separating the evidence-level criteria of internal and external validity, by incorporating explicitly the evidence provided by qualitative studies, and by retaining the critical notion of rigor, a pyramidal evidence model emerges. This model, the Research Pyramid, aligns itself with the revised model of evidence-based medicine and, more important, with the basic modes of clinical reasoning in occupational therapy. It constitutes a beginning attempt to order evidence-based practice in accordance with the epistemology of the profession. It may better guide occupational therapy research and meta-synthesis and their incorporation into practice decisions.