Social Work Practitioners' Views of and Current Engagement in the EBP Process

Background and Purpose: The five last years has resulted in a myriad of publications regarding the promise and limitations of evidence-based practice (EBP) for social work (e.g., Gambrill, 2006; Gibbs & Gambrill, 2002; Gibbs, 2003; Thyer, 2004). While these manuscripts have provided a perspective of various members of the academy, there is a dearth of information regarding the views and behaviors of social work practitioners. A better understanding of the views of social work practitioners is essential if we are to effectively disseminate and implement this model in social work practice (Bellamy, Bledsoe, & Traube, 2006; Mullen, 2006). This study reports the results of an online survey of NASW members in Texas regarding their self-efficacy with EBP, views of EBP, perceived feasibility of EBP, and current use of the EBP process in practice. Methods: NASW members who had provided an email address for the NASW Texas listserv were invited to participate in this survey. Each member received the email, which provided information about the study and a link to the online survey questionnaire. The questionnaire included 10 background questions and the revised EBP Process Assessment Scale (Parrish & Rubin, in progress), which has excellent evidence for its reliability (α ranged between .91 and .93 for three subscales, and was .75 for the shorter feasibility subscale) and validity. While it is difficult to know the actual sampling frame due to several documented technical issues (e.g., lapsed email addresses, spam email boxes, and difficulties with internet browsers) and a belief that the survey did not apply (e.g., retired or non-practicing NASW members and social work students), it is estimated that the email was sent to a listserv of approximately 5000 NASW members and 829 responded. Having a PhD or being male was associated with higher overall scale scores, while there were no differences by licensure status or having a master's degree. Basic descriptive statistics were used to describe the results. Results: The majority of social workers reported self-efficacy in various aspects of the EBP process, with as many as 78 percent reporting knowing how to use the internet to search for research evidence. Most social workers believed that engaging in the EBP process would improve one's practice, but less than half thought that engaging in EBP was more ethical than not. Fewer social workers believed that EBP was feasible, with only 31 percent reporting having enough time to engage in the EBP process. With regard to the various steps of the EBP process, practitioners were most likely to report engaging in these steps “some of the time,” while almost 49% indicated that they are currently evaluating the outcomes of practice decisions. Conclusions and Implications: These results suggest that a large number of social workers are open to learning about and implementing EBP, but that there are still many perceived feasibility issues. Time appears to be the largest barrier to implementation. Future training efforts should focus on providing support for the implementation of EBP at both the policy and organizational levels.