Postpartum Depression: Current Status and Future Directions, Research Paper Example

Levels of evidence in research require a critical examination of their strengths and how they contribute to the practice environment and potential change. There are considerable advantages with evidence that will support a significant change in practice to enable patients with postpartum depression to benefit from the services that are provided.  For example, strong evidence in this focus area is identified through controlled trials involving psychological interventions, medication interventions, and depression screenings, among other options (O’Hara & McCabe, 2013). The development of new procedures or methods to advance evidence may have mixed results in practice, but they offer a greater sense of knowledge in determining the impact of the evidence and how it influences treatment protocols for postpartum depression (Logsdon, 2013).

Creating an evidence-based practice change for postpartum depression requires a level of knowledge and experience in which the evidence is supported by success in prior clinical studies and interventions (Logsdon, 2013). In this capacity, it is important to understand how the selected evidence supports the ability to diagnose and treat patients with postpartum depression effectively in the future, using a scaled approach to determine the best possible areas of evidence that should be pursued (Logsdon, 2013).

Educating colleagues regarding levels of evidence requires knowledge of the options and whether or not they will likely contribute to promoting change in the treatment of postpartum depression to achieve a greater grasp on this condition and how it impacts the patient population. Most importantly, an organization must be prepared to manage the potential outcomes related to the chosen evidence and to make practical decisions regarding the type of evidence that should be explored more closely in an effort to improve the practice environment with respect to this condition.

References

Logsdon, M. C. (2013, November). Use of research evidence by hospital based perinatal nurses to provide care for postpartum depression. In 42nd Biennial Convention (16 November-20 November 2013). STTI.

O’Hara, M. W., & McCabe, J. E. (2013). Postpartum depression: current status and future directions. Annual review of clinical psychology, 9, 379-407.