Skip to Content

What Is Evidence-Based?

In the health care field, evidence-based practice (or practices), also called EBP or EBPs, generally refers to approaches to prevention or treatment that are validated by some form of documented scientific evidence. What counts as "evidence" varies. Evidence often is defined as findings established through scientific research, such as controlled clinical studies, but other methods of establishing evidence are considered valid as well. Evidence-based practice stands in contrast to approaches that are based on tradition, convention, belief, or anecdotal evidence.

One concern is that too much emphasis on EBPs may in some cases restrict practitioners from exercising their own judgment to provide the best care for individuals. For this reason many organizations have adopted definitions of evidence-based practice that emphasize balancing the "scientific" with the "practical."

Evidence-Based Practice in the Context of NREPP

NREPP does not attempt to offer a single, authoritative definition of evidence-based practice. SAMHSA expects that people who use this system will come with their own perspectives and contexts for understanding the information that NREPP offers. By providing a range of objective information about the research that has been conducted on each particular intervention, SAMHSA hopes users will make their own judgments about which interventions are best suited to particular needs.

SAMHSA also recognizes that there is a wide spectrum of possible definitions of "evidence." With this in mind, the agency has aimed to make the NREPP rating criteria and processes as transparent as possible so that all definitions are clear to all NREPP users. To read more about the criteria that are used to determine an NREPP rating, please see our Review Process section.

Advancing evidence-based practice remains at the core of SAMHSA's Science to Service Initiative. SAMHSA hopes that the new NREPP will play a major role in realizing this goal by disseminating timely information to the field about both the scientific basis and practicality of available interventions.