Final Reflection on Evidence-based Practice

Throughout my journey in the occupational therapy (OT) program the one component I
thought to be the most difficult and challenging was research. Prior to this program research for
me was just citing from my textbooks or a reliable internet source. I was never a student that
found an interest in research studies. I thought they were boring to read because the terminology
of research studies was foreign to me. However, I now know the importance of evidence-based
research within OT scope of practice. Evidence-based practice justifies the judicious use of the
best current evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.
During the first semester my research group (Renegades) and I conducted a quantitative
research study, the study indicated that having obligations pertaining to significant others and/or
family members at home can increase a graduate students stress level, and this is an important
fact to be aware of when evaluating sources of stress for students at this academic level.
Although I never felt comfortable with gathering research, this study that my group and I
conducted was relevant to my own situation and made me aware of the fact that I am
experiencing additional stress from responsibilities at home.
The qualitative research study was conducted in the second semester to describe the
effects of academics on eating habits for first-year graduate students in the 2016 cohort of Touro
University Nevadas occupational Therapy program. During the course of gathering information,
I realized with this study it helped to promote awareness of issues that can negatively impact
graduate students eating habits and may help to encourage future research on treatment
strategies that can address those issues.
By the fourth semester, I was learning about the components of research on quantitative
studies and learning how to extrapolate the relevant information from the articles to incorporate

Final Reflection on Evidence-based Practice

into the evidence table and the critically appraised topic (CAT). This assignment took a great
deal of effort and time for me and my research partner. The PICO question formulated stated,
Do older adults who engage in therapeutic exercise improve overall performance in
ADLs/IADLs or quality of life? This study was interesting to the both of us because we both
want to practice within the older adult population. In the end, my partner and I found that
therapeutic exercise improved performance in ADLs, IADLs, and QOL; however, further
research is warranted. In knowing the importance of research, I plan to provide evidence-based
interventions to my patients and to continually stay current on the research in order to
provide the best quality of care to my future patients.