This presentation offers information on the availability of pre-appraised and evidence-based online resources for speech pathology practice. Research evidence is an essential component of evidence-based practice (EBP) and when integrated with clinical expertise, client values and information from the local context, enables the delivery of effective, quality healthcare. Recent research shows that speech pathologists are experiencing very similar barriers to EBP as those reported by clinicians across many areas of healthcare. Key challenges include difficulty accessing research evidence and a lack of time to search and read research. To address these commonly experienced barriers, there are now many digital resources available across healthcare to provide health professionals with easy access to summarised, pre-appraised evidence to use at the point-of-practice. However, the availability of online resources that provide pre-appraised evidence relevant to speech pathology practice is currently unknown.

A systematic two-stage scoping review search was undertaken across five databases and grey literature to identify relevant online resources for speech pathologists which include pre-appraised evidence. From a total of 51 resources reviewed, nine online resources were included in the review. Three online resources were found to have a speech pathology focus and six resources were identified from other areas of healthcare and related professions that had speech pathology relevant research content.

This presentation provides an overview of the content, editorial quality, scope of clinical coverage, evidence rating systems and types of critically appraised evidence available to speech pathologists across these online resources. This may help clinicians to access trusted sources of pre-appraised evidence to guide clinical decision-making. This research highlights gaps in the current digital landscape of evidence-based resources for speech pathologists and the need for more research to inform the development of future digital evidence resources for the profession.

Campbell, J. M., Umapathysivam, K., Xue, Y., & Lockwood, C. (2015). Evidence-Based Practice Point-of-Care Resources: A Quantitative Evaluation of Quality, Rigor, and Content. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 12(6), 313–327. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12114

Greenwell, T., & Walsh, B. (2021). Evidence-Based Practice in Speech-Language Pathology: Where Are We Now? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 30(1), 186–198. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_ajslp-20-00194

Hoffmann, T., Bennett, S., & Del Mar, C. (2024). Evidence-based Practice across the Health Professions (4th ed.). Elsevier.

McGill, N. (2023). What’s the Evidence? Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 27–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/22087168.2023.12370385

Thome, E. K., Loveall, S. J., & Henderson, D. E. (2020). A Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists’ Understanding and Reported Use of Evidence-Based Practice. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 5(4), 984–999. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_persp-20-00008