What’s in a name? Journal clubs, communities of practice, and professional study groups

Research indicates that occupational therapists do not consistently engage in evidence-based practice (Krueger et al., 2020; Saunders et al., 2019; Thomas & Law, 2013); therefore, methods to promote evidence-based practice are essential to the profession. Professional learning communities provide a format and environment that may bridge the gap between research and practice (Woodland, 2016).

Courses and workshops on interventions for occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) abound, but a systematic review in 2009 found that educational meetings alone are not likely to be effective for changing complex behaviors (Forsetlund et al., 2021). A comparison between interactive and didactic educational meetings yielded results with low certainty, indicating that the research provides some indication of the likely effect (Forsetlund et al., 2021). In contrast, in a systematic review of studies on the effectiveness of educational meetings, the authors concluded that a combination of interactive and didactic education was more effective than either alone (Forsetlund et al., 2012). Therefore, professional learning communities may be more successful in bridging the research-practice gap by combining an instructional component with active learning by the participants.