Challenges to Implementing Evidence Based Care in Mental Health Practice

Running head: EVIDENCE BASED CARE
Essay
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1EVIDENCE BASED CARE
Part A- Essay
Introduction- Evidence based practice (EBP) refers to the interdisciplinary approach
that comprises of the careful, explicit and sensible use of contemporary best evidences in
making pronouncements about the care of patients. The process also encompasses the
integration of discrete clinical expertise with the best accessible external medical evidence
from organised research (LoBiondo-Wood et al., 2013). In other words, EBP can be defined
as the incorporation of clinical proficiency, patient standards, and the finest investigation
evidence into the process of clinical decision making, for ensuring health and safety of all
patients. The primary objective of EBP is to standardise the available health care services to
latest evidences, with the aim of minimising all forms of variation in patient care, and
avoiding subsequent unanticipated outcomes among the patients (Townsend & Morgan,
2017). In recent years, a plethora of EBP frameworks and models have been developed by
healthcare professionals. In the words of DiCenso, Guyatt and Ciliska (2014) these models
and outlines have meaningfully contributed to intensifying the clinical field by founding a
sound understanding of the abundant facets of the EBP, including the application and
information transformation procedures, the premeditated or structural change theory for
indorsing acceptance and implementation of new information, and its subsequent exchange.
This essay will elaborate on EBP and the challenges faced during its implementation in
mental health practice.
Mental health care setting- Primary care is associated with the procedure of providing
important healthcare services that are universally accessible to people and their family
members, in the community. Primary care is given based on the preferences and needs of the
target population (Corrigan, Druss & Perlick, 2014). Delivery of mental health services in
such settings encompasses the diagnosis and treatment of people suffering from mental
disorders, implementing effective strategies for preventing and managing their signs and

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symptoms, and ensuring the application of key behavioural and psychosocial skills such as,
counselling, interviewing, and interpersonal skills. According to Olfson et al. (2014) mental
health illnesses, such as, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, are some of the most
common health conditions that are encountered in a mental health ward. These illnesses
typically co-occur with chronic and acute medical complications and are responsible for
considerably worsening the associated health outcomes among the affected people. This calls
for the need of implementing appropriate strategies for managing the illnesses. Under
situations when the mental health problems are not effectually managed, they result in an
impairment of self-care and obedience to therapeutic treatments. Furthermore, lack of EBP
implementation while treating patients suffering from mental disease are also allied with
augmented morbidity and mortality, amplified health care costs, and reduced productivity
(Vigo, Thornicroft & Atun, 2016).
Prevention and management of widely prevalent mental health diseases in primary
care comprises of the application of collective care interventions that are based on
contemporary evidences, thus increasing patient access to care, enhancing mental and
physical health outcomes, and improving the general cost-effectiveness of the interventions.
Owing to the huge variations in the readiness and capacity of mental health programs in a
hospital setting, it is imperative to adequately assess the patients and customise the treatment
services in relation to mental health care. Assessing the function, resources and goals of the
evidence based program is a vital step in implementation of EBP in mental health settings.
This should be followed by identification of the achievable and the shared objectives. Joint
valuation of the wants and viability of EBP integration, recognition of the exact steps that
need to be followed, providing training and support to the staff, and supervising the EBP
services are also essential in the clinical practice domain.

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Challenges to EBP- There is mounting evidence for the fact that for sustainable and
effective dissemination of EBP services, support from the management facilitates speed
initiation. Demonstrating consistency with the already existing practices are also crucial in
mental health ward (Karlin & Cross, 2014). Additionally, availability of necessary resources
for the implementation of EBP is crucial for enhancing the health and wellbeing of the
patients. Initial challenge is encountered during recruitment of the staff who are responsible
for implementation of the EBP in mental health ward. Most often the EBP necessary for
treatment of mental disorders require adequate expertise and training from the staff, working
in the department (Novins et al., 2013). Lack of proper cultural attitude in the hospital system
is another potential challenge encountered in the mental health ward. A common perception
lies among the management and hospital authorities that the nurses would not receive any
benefits or would not get any monetary advantages, upon the implementation of evidence
based strategies in the care setting. There is mounting evidence for the fact that under most
circumstances, providing adequate information to the patients on the evidence based
intervention confuses them (Warren et al., 2016). Complex information about the intervention
threatens their decision-making abilities, and make it difficult for the service users to exert
their opinion in relation to implementation of the proposed intervention. In addition, each
patients suffering from mental health problems have individual issues and associated
psychosocial concerns. EBP often fails to be specific and precise for all the individual factors
related to the patients.
Another common challenge encountered in clinical practice can be accredited to the
fact that although trainings have the potential of enhancing EBP and its role in clinical
settings, a lack of infrastructure present in the hospital often makes it difficult to conduct
training programs that are tailored in accordance to the needs of the practitioners (Gustafsson,
Molineux & Bennett, 2014). Although external workshops are able to train the practitioners