What is it?
Evidence-based practice is a method for substantiating practical activities using the best available evidence. With this method, scientific literature forms the basis for the evidence. It is further complemented by practical experience, the expertise of specialists in the relevant field, and the preferences and available resources of the target group. Consequently, the advantages and disadvantages of an intervention are compared and a well-considered answer is formulated to a specific research question.
How it came to exist...
In the past, answers to specific medical and non-medical practical queries were provided by looking in textbooks or asking an expert. In the early ‘90s, however, there was a growing awareness that individual expertise has limitations. At the same time there was a major increase in clinical studies investigating the effect of specific interventions. All of this led to the ‘evidence-based medicine’ philosophy. The term ‘evidence-based medicine’ was coined by David Sackett of McMaster University in Canada. Later on, when the method started to be applied in areas outside medicine, it became known as ‘evidence-based practice’.
From blood supply to emergency aid
Evidence-based practice is extremely useful for making decisions about specific practice-related issues concerning the effect of certain activities or interventions. Within the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders, evidence-based practice is used both by the Blood Service and in the field of humanitarian services – in other words, from blood supply to emergency aid.