The impact of a promotional program for evidence-based practice on the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan

Tags: Poster
Chiu Y, Weng Y, Lo H, Shih Y

Background: In order to promote evidence-based practice (EBP), the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) has provided free access to The Cochrane Library and has held a series of educational programs for health professionals in regional hospitals of Taiwan since 2007. Objectives: To investigate the effects of the promotional program on the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, skills, behavior and barriers to EBP in health professionals at regional hospitals in Taiwan. Methods: We surveyed a nationally representative sample of physicians and nurses in 2007 (before NHRI promotion) and 2008 (after 1.5 year of promotion). A total of 1,204 questionnaires (609 physicians plus 595 nurses) in 2007 and of 2,975 questionnaires (563 physicians plus 2412 nurses) in 2008 were collected. Results: Compared with the 2007 survey, physicians’ knowledge and skill of EBP shows significant enhancement in 2008 (p=0.000). The reduction of perceived barriers to EBP in physicians was also significant. In addition, physicians more often access The Cochrane Library (p=0.000), MD Consult (p=0.000), MEDLINE (p=0.007) and UpToDate (p=0.000) in 2008. The EBP improvements in nurses group were similar in terms of belief (p=0.000), knowledge (p=0.000) and skill (p=0.000). Furthermore, nurses in the 2008 group tended to use The Cochrane Library (p=0.000), MD Consult (p=0.000) and UpToDate (p=0.000). However, nurses’ perceived barriers increased compared with before. The attitude towards EBP did not significantly change in both physicians and nurses. Conclusions: Our study shows that knowledge, skill and behavior of EBP has been improved in health professionals after 18 months of promotional education. These data indicate that the NHRI’s strategy and program design are effective in the promotion of EBP.