Critical Appraisal of Evidence on Rehabilitation Needs After Stroke

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Title page
Student Name:
HLSC122 Semester 1, 2018
Assessment 3: Critical appraisal of evidence
Word count:
Student name/student number

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Introduction:
Evidence based practice can be defined as the scientific and systematic process
of combining the knowledge and information derived from the authentic and reliable
literature sources in order to be able to implement best practice in the care scenario.
Evidence based practice is a framework that allows the nursing professionals to ensure
optimal safety and efficacy of the care interventions provided to patient and enhances
patient centered- ness of the care program (McKevitt et al., 2011). However, in order for
the nurses to be able to perform adequate evidence based practice, it is crucial for the
nurses to understand the authenticity, reliability and relevance of the literature. Critical
appraisal exercise can be considered as one of the most effective technique for the
nurses to develop the ability or the skills to engage in independent evidence based
practice. This paper will attempt to critically appraise an article by Ekstam et al. (2015)
Body:
Ekstam, L., Johansson, U., Guidetti, S., Eriksson, G., & Ytterberg, C. (2015). The
combined perceptions of people with stroke and their carers regarding
rehabilitation needs 1 year after stroke: a mixed methods study. BMJ open, 5(2),
e006784.
PART A
Authorship:
The author affiliations for each author respectively are:
Student name/student number

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1. Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Neurobiology Care Sciences
and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
2. Department of Occupational Therapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm,
Sweden
3. Department of Clinical Research, Uppsala University/County Council of
Gävle, Gävle, Sweden
4. Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation Medicine, Uppsala
University, Uppsala, Sweden
5. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neurology, Karolinska
University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden
6. Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Neurobiology Care Sciences and
Society, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
As the all of the authors are extremely qualified and experienced they can be
considered to have more than enough expertise to have conducted a valid and
relevant research. As all the authors belong to same nation being Sweden and
belonged to similar research domain, the possibility of conflicts is also low.
Research question:
The research question asked by this particular paper is “what is the association
between the dyad’s perception of the person with stroke’s rehabilitation needs,
stroke severity, personal factors (gender, age, and sense of coherence), the use
Student name/student number