Differences between DBP and EBP - Essay Example

"Differences between DBP and EBP" is a great example of a paper on the health system.
This paper focuses on differentiating between Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) and the Diseased-Based Practice. EBP relies on research-based evidence to inform the clinical care decision making (1). The DBP model focuses on a single cause and administers a single treatment, which focuses on lowering symptoms rather than treating them entirely.

 Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) has most commonly been referred to as empirically-supported treatment, (EST). EBP is the practice of evidence-based medicine. For every medical decision making, it must be informed by evidence from organized practical research (3). EBP encourages the gathering, interpretation, and combination of applicable, important and valid patient-reported, medical practitioner observed, and research-based evidence. For EBP, the aim is that the decision that is going to be used to advance the value of medical decision as well as in facilitating cost-effective medical care must be informed through research-based evidence.

EBP is a practice that includes compound and reliable decision-making, which depends not only on research-based evidence but also on the behaviour, desires, and characteristics of the patient (2). Additionally, the EBP approach recognizes that medical care is personalized and constantly changing with vast uncertainties. EBP approach thus implies the integration of a person’s medical expertise with the finest obtainable external research evidence. It develops a personalized plan of best practices to inform the enhancement of professional assignment at hand.

Diseased-based practice (DBP) is a practice that does put any considerations on the psychological effects of an individual’s physical health. It treats an individual as though it is a machine and does not consider the link between a patient’s mind, emotions and his health. The main concern with this practice is that it does not understand or neglects the fact that human body is a dynamic, interacting system, and the use of reductionist approaches, which views an individual’s parts in isolation, may not be appropriate in treatment (4).  It does not understand that the causes of illnesses are multi-factorial, and for appropriate and adequate treatment to be administered on chronic illnesses, the human body must be looked at from a wider perspective and not individual parts. Unlike EBP, which relies on research-based evidence to inform the clinical care decision making, DBP put much importance on genes. It looks at the genes as causing certain conditions that lead to chronic diseases.

Diseased based practice, as the name suggests is treatment practice that is based on a disease, the doctor does not enquire any other information but offers a prescription. This practice does not realize how the human bodies have changed, and obviously, does not understand the underlying causal factors that may not necessarily require prescriptions. The use of DBP model creates a more logical problem, especially in explaining the theoretical structure to be used for clinical practice (3). DBP is a practice where the medical practitioners focus mainly on the individual part and not on the whole body part, it therefore implies an illness-health practice. DBP is a practice that needs to be done away with; it is entirely insufficient in treating various complex diseases for example cancer, arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes among others.

In this practice, much power has been given to the doctor such that he controls the doctor and patient relationship. This practice does not consider the opinion of the patient, except when the patient is answering the symptoms part. Additionally, DBP is a patriarchal structure, which places the clinician and doctors as the sole experts on the patient’s body.  The DBP model focuses on a single cause and administers a single treatment, which focuses on lowering symptoms rather than treating them entirely.

In conclusion,

Evidenced Based-Practice:

• Has a questioning approach that leads to systematic experimentation
• Clinical decision making must be informed by evidence from organized practical research.
• It encourages the gathering, interpretation, and combination of applicable, important and valid patient-reported, medical practitioner observed, and research-based evidence.
• Clinical reliable decision-making is also based on the behaviour, desires, and characteristics of the patient
• Clinical care is personalized and constantly changing with uncertainties.

Disease based-model:

• Does not recognize the relationship between a patient’s mind, emotions and health.
• The DBP model focuses on a single cause and administers a single treatment, which focuses on lowering symptoms rather than treating them entirely.
• DBP put much importance on genes and not research-based as EBP.