CHALLENGES TO THE FUTURE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

Abstract

This article critically analyzes challenges that may influence whether evidence-based practice (EBP) enjoys more success than previous efforts to improve the integration of practice and research in social work education. Key challenges include: (1) alleviating disparities in how EBP is being defined by social work educators; (2) maximizing the feasibility of implementing the EBP process appropriately after graduation, while at the same time preparing students not to over-rely on authoritative publications that designate certain interventions as evidence-based; and (3) preventing evidentiary standards from getting softened to the point that EBP becomes a meaningless term, as any study, regardless of its methodological rigor, can be cited to justify deeming an intervention to be evidence based.