QUESTION
Why is understanding the health care system at the local level important to consider when planning an EBP implementation? Conduct research and solicit anecdotal evidence from your course mentor that you will take into consideration for your own change project
ANSWER
When making an evidence-based practice change, it is important to consider what is offered locally before implementing changes. Understanding your resources and what is available within the local community will allow the researcher to know where the change needs to be made and in what way a change could make things better. Knowing your community and what its needs are, should be the first step to making a change. While some communities may want to focus on diabetes because that has the highest prevalence in their area, others may want to focus on heart disease. What area of change would make the most impact and what services are already being offered within the community (Ockene et al., 2019)? These are important questions to ask prior to planning an EBP implementation.
After talking with my mentor, she brought up a few good points regarding my research on lead education. She mentioned that timing was important and that now is the time for promoting lead education and prevention within our county. She had mentioned many stakeholders are recognizing the importance focusing on lead right now and that there is a big push within our local community to begin with lead awareness. She also said there are many community leaders who are looking at lead and willing to fund projects involving this topic (V. Mouser, personal communication, August 20, 2019).
Reference:
Ockene, J., Edgerton, E., Teutsch, S., Marion, L., Miller, T., Genevro, J.,…Briss, P. (2019, April). Integrating evidence-based clinical and community strategies to improve health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Name/integrating- evidence-based-clinical-and-community-strategies-to-improve-health#copyright-and-source- information
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