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1. Identify the Need for Evidence
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Choosing a topic to focus on
First you need to choose a topic to focus on.
There might be a single issue that you’ve been keen to find out more about for a while, or you might identify lots of topics.
Triggers for topics
- Evaluations of services
- Service user feedback
- Team results against national or local Performance Indicators
- Complex cases
- National research findings
- New legislation or guidance
Checklist
If you identify lots of topics, try using the checklist below to help you assess each topic.
You should focus on the topic that meets all (or most) of the criteria in the checklist.
- It's relevant to everyone in the team
- It's important to our practice
- Our service users will think it's important
- It relates to our key priorities/objectives
- There is likely to be some research evidence on this topic
- We'll be able to collect our own data on this topic
- We're able and prepared to change our practice on this topic
North Team B are keen to find out more about assistive technology.
Debbie has just joined the team from a neighbouring authority where an assistive technology pilot programme revealed very positive results for service users. Jake is a newly qualified team member who is keen to put his learning into practice. Some of the other team members have heard good things about assistive technology but others are more reticent. They think that technology can’t replace ‘real people’ and that their service users wouldn’t be able to use the technology and would just get confused and upset.
Overall the team would like to feel more informed about assistive technology so they can reassure themselves, pass their knowledge on to their service users, and hopefully influence practice in their service.
Choosing a specific question
Once you’ve chosen a topic, you’ll probably need to narrow your topic down to identify a specific question you’d like to answer.
When you choose a question, you need to think about whether your question can be answered meaningfully, and whether the answer can be applied to practice.
*Begin your question with how, what, where, when, who or why*
To help you choose your question, try breaking your topic down into component parts.
If you’re interested in the effectiveness of different approaches, think about:
- Who are you interested in?
- What approach/intervention/activity are you interested in?
- What is the desired outcome?
For example:
What impact does inspection have on the quality of care in homes for older people?
You might also want to include a comparison, for example one intervention compared to another.
If you’re interested in the views of service users, or the nature of a problem or condition, think about:
- Who are you interested in?
- What service/problem/condition are you interested in?
- What particular aspect are you interested in?
For example:
How can we encourage more people from black and minority ethnic communities to access adult social care services?
North Team B discussed the subject of assistive technology in a team meeting, and decided to focus on the following question: ‘What impact does assistive technology have on the quality of life for people living at home?’
Once you've identified your need for evidence by choosing a topic and a specific question, you'll be ready to start locating the evidence.
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