title: Research Pyramid: a new evidence-based practice model for occupational therapy.
abstract: In the campaign to implement evidence-based practice, the current single-hierarchy model of levels of evidence fails to incorporate at parity all types of research evidence that are valuable in the practice of occupational therapy. A new model, originally developed by Borgetto et al. (2007) and modified and expanded, is presented. By separating the evidence-level criteria of internal and external validity, by incorporating explicitly the evidence provided by qualitative studies, and by retaining the critical notion of rigor, a pyramidal evidence model emerges. This model, the Research Pyramid, aligns itself with the revised model of evidence-based medicine and, more important, with the basic modes of clinical reasoning in occupational therapy. It constitutes a beginning attempt to order evidence-based practice in accordance with the epistemology of the profession. It may better guide occupational therapy research and meta-synthesis and their incorporation into practice decisions.
authors.affiliation: University of Puget Sound, 1500 North Warner Street, CMB 1070, Tacoma, WA 98416, USA. tomlin@pugetsound.edu
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tomlin
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borgetto
mesh_terms: D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012106:Research