What Does Evidence-Based Mean?

What does evidence-based mean? What are the criteria for determining if a program/practice is evidence-based? No one answer to these questions currently exists. Various credible organizations have created similar definitions and criteria. These classifications tend to be on a continuum that at a minimum assesses the quality of the evaluation, design and methodology, the outcomes produced and for whom, the replication by more than one researcher, and the availability of a manual. The more criteria the program meets, the more grounded in science the program or intervention is thought to be.

To help navigate through this term evidence-based, we will present some of the more commonly used definitions and criteria and provide links to the seminal documents that helped shape this important movement.

Evidence-based practices have been defined in the following ways:

"Evidence-based practice is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values......Patient values refers to the unique preferences, concerns, and expectations that each patient brings to a clinical encounter" (Crossing the Quality Chasm, Institute of Medicine, 2001, p. 147)

"Evidence-based practices are interventions for which there is consistent scientific evidence showing that they improve client outcomes." (Drake et al., 2001, p. 180)