Assignment: Implementation into Practice Essay
Assignment: Implementation into Practice Essay

Introduction

The contemporary approaches in health service delivery focus on value-based care in which quality outcomes depend on the utilization of evidence-based practice. In order to achieve this, medical database need to be reviewed to acquire insights on latest practices in patient care. Comparative analysis of research is vital to inform health-care decisions based on the provision of health services to patients (Shamseer et al., 2015). The approach provides articles for care providers to analyze literature materials to affirm their effectiveness, benefits as well as harms associated with different treatment options. Often, the evidence obtained from research studies are essential for practice and policy formulation. This is because the articles found can be used to compare medical devices, surgeries, tests and drugs in addition to the analysis of the ways used for delivery of health care for a specific disease. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHQR) provides online summaries of resources that can be retrieved to guide evidence in clinical decision. However, despite being easy to obtain the articles, the effectiveness and accuracy of the online summaries in AHQR remains uncertain. Besides, the practical application of these materials to make real-time clinical decisions in order to improve patient care is riddled by paradoxes of lack of authenticity.

The present article aims to address the gaps of ineffectiveness of research by analyzing the evidence generated by summaries of reviews on AHRQ. Specifically, the study will bridge the gap in health delivery by focusing on the topic about the efficaciousness as well as safety of the screening method as regards postpartum depression. The purpose of the assessment will be to evaluate the effectiveness of the research articles for the benefit of health workers, consumers as well as policymakers. Barriers associated with implementation of the practice will be analyzed and this will be followed by the recommendations on how to address the challenges.

Discussion of the Practice

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a condition of depressive episodes that temporarily manifest after childbirth and has a 7.1% period prevalence lasting 3 months (Kendig et al., 2017). The condition readily affects mothers with a history of negative life events, depression and those who lack social support. PPD affects the health of the mother and can have extended impact on the life development of the child (O’Connor et al., 2016). Early screening and detection of post-partum depression can support as well promote treatment for fast recovery of the women affected by the condition (Knights et al., 2016). Besides, the approach ensures adequate follow-up of mothers diagnosed with PPD to reduce the adverse events of the condition. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a structured assessment tool that can be used for early detection of PPD (Howard et al., 2014). The tool is used for early and late detection of post-partum depression in mothers to guide evidence on treatment.

Assessment of the Extent to which the Practice is being Implemented

EPDS tends to be the screening tool that receives the widest application in the detection of post-partum depression in women. According to the AHRQ reviewers in 2015, the tool is defined by a set of ten questions, which a patient is required to complete and ranges in a scale of 0 to 30 (Milgrom et al., 2015). The analysis reveals that the likelihood of developing the condition is directly proportional to the score on the scale. Besides, a score of 13 or more is used to validate a diagnosis of major depression for the post-partum women. Nonetheless, a cut-off score of 10 is used to categorize women who need further evaluation and counseling (Thombs et al., 2014).