Are you…

• A qualified speech pathologist?
• Living or practicing in NSW (i.e., public, private, NGO)?
• Interested in actively participating and applying research into your daily work?

If you fulfill all these criteria then we would love to have you join our network!

Steps to joining the NSW Speech Pathology EBP Network

To be a member of the NSW Speech Pathology Evidence-based Practice (EBP) Network you need to know what EBP is, the steps involved in EBP, how to develop and write PICO questions, how to search for and critique research evidence, and how to write critically appraised papers (CATs) in addition to critically appraised topics (CATs). Don’t worry if this sounds daunting – we’re here to help you learn how to do it! To ensure that you have the background knowledge and skills, please complete the following steps:

• Visit the following website: http://www.asha.org/Research/EBP/ and work through the four webpages “Key Steps in the EBP Process”, including:
  • Step 1: Framing the Clinical Question.
    Learn the important difference between a general background question, and a PICO question, and how to write a PICO question.)
  • Step 2: Gathering Evidence.
    As part of this step, check out ASHA’s Evidence-based maps http://www.asha.org/Evidence-Maps/ Take a look at the list of evidence associated with the particular clinical group you would you to join such as evidence for Traumatic Brain Injury  or Autism Spectrum Disorders) . Also, familiarize yourself with http://speechbite.com )
  • Step 3: Assessing the Evidence.
    As part of this step, please read through the checklists from the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP), and each of the checklists how to appraise different types of research (http://www.casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists).
  • Step 4: Making the Clinical Decision. http://www.asha.org/Research/EBP/Making-the-Decision/
• Complete the checklist
• Contact the leader of the clinical group you are interested in to find out the date of their next meeting and let the leader know you are coming. At your first meeting, give a signed copy of your completed checklist to the clinical leader.