Authors: Aiste PRANCKEVICIENE, Adomas BUNEVICIUS
Summary: Evidence-based assessment (EBA) and evidence-based treatment (EBT) are two fundamental principles on which evidence-based practice is grounded. Huge scientific efforts are assigned towards development and implementation of EBT in psychiatry and psychotherapy; however, EBA of mental disorders still remains underdeveloped and under-researched. This situation is not beneficial for any participants of mental health care, including clinicians, patients and scientists. Research data show, that information obtained from EBA can improve validity of clinical decisions, facilitate better collaboration between clinicians and patients, result in better treatment outcomes, help sharing clinical findings and accumulating data on treatments efficiency. This article aims to draw attention to the value of EBA in psychiatric settings, to provide guidelines and steps, how principles of EBA could be incorporated into everyday practice and to encourage positive changes in psychological assessment in mental health settings.
Keywords: evidence-based assessment, evidence-based practice, psychometric properties, scientific approach to clinical practice.
