Unpacking evidence-based practice in social work education: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

Social work practitioners play a significant role in society, supporting individuals, families, groups, and communities. To meet the goals of well-being and equity, social workers address life challenges, including substance addiction, maltreatment, mental health, and poverty, and are embedded in communities via hospitals, schools, and nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Thus, social work practice has a wide scope and requires comprehensive education. Given the complex nature of social work practice, it has the potential for bias and error resulting in poor user outcomes. Evidence-based Practice (EBP) has been widely identified as a framework to promote deliberate practice. However, the use of EBP in social work practice is lacking. This scoping review, therefore, explores the intersection of how EBP has been conceptualized and taught in social work education. A total of 49 manuscripts were included in the final qualitative content analysis. The results suggest an inconsistent and often conflicting conceptualization of EBP. Furthermore, teaching strategies are also inconsistent and may contribute to the lack of EBP utilization in practice. It is suggested that social work regulatory bodies consider addressing disparities in EBP conceptualization.

KEYWORDS:

• Evidence-based practice
• social work education
• pedagogy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kristen Lwin

Kristen Lwin has over 20 years of social work experience, including practice, child welfare research and program evaluation, and knowledge translation and mobilization. Kristen is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Work at the University of Windsor. Prior to her current academic position, Kristen served as the Executive Director of a non-profit knowledge translation and mobilization organization for child welfare organizations across Canada. Kristen’s research focuses on exploring the child welfare worker and organizational characteristics that predict service delivery and the role of Evidence-based Practice in social work education and practice.

Eavan Brady

Eavan Brady is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work & Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Eavan's research interests are located in the field of child welfare with a particular focus on the long-term well-being and outcomes of care-experienced children and adults. Eavan is also interested in the teaching and application of evidence-based practice within the social work profession. Prior to joining Trinity College Dublin, Eavan worked in the homelessness, housing, and mental health sectors in Dublin and Toronto, Canada. Eavan also spent two years working in the field of knowledge translation in Canada.