Research Design & Stats
Sources of Research Information
There are numerous resources available to life care planners, but professionals need to know where information exists and how it may be accessed.
Peer Reviewed Journals
Peer-reviewed journals accept submissions based upon a “blind” critique of the contributor’s article. In a sense, the peer review process serves as a quality control measure to minimize the distribution of misinformation based upon poorly designed research or theoretical assertions. Peer reviewers are typically experts in a specified field of practice charged with the responsibility of evaluating the scientific merit of a paper or research report.
For this reason, life care planners should rely primarily upon information appearing in peer-reviewed journals. This is not to say that the findings are “correct,” or that the studies included in these publications are as well-designed as they could be. Simply, in order to have been included in the journal, the article was subjected to a review of peers within the field.
There are many valuable journals and, depending upon a professional’s background and issues specific to individual patients, some publications may be of greater use than others. The following journals are suggested resources:
Journals of Rehabilitation and Psychology:
Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin
Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling
Rehabilitation Psychology
Journal of Rehabilitation Administration
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation
Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment Bulletin
Journal of Job Placement and Development
Work
Journal of Counseling and Development
Journal of Counseling Psychology
Measurement and Education in Counseling and Development
Journal of Disability Policy and Studies
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
Psychological Bulletin
Teaching Exceptional Children
Journal of Life Care Planning
RehabManagement
Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development
The Case Manager
The Rehabilitation Professional
Psychosomatics
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law
Journals of Medicine and Allied Health:
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Journal of the American Medical Association
Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation
British Medical Journal
Annals of Long-Term Care
Home Health Care Consultant
Spine
Rehabilitation Nursing
Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation
Brain
Neurology
American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Pain
The Clinical Journal of Pain
Spinal Cord
American Journal of Occupational Therapy
SCI Nursing
Journal of Pediatrics
Physical Therapy
Respiratory Research
Health Psychology
Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics
Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine
Ear & Hearing
Journal of Occupational Medicine
Journal of Physical Therapy Science
Journal of Neurorehabilitation
Locating Journals of Interest
In most cases, life care planners will need to access peer-reviewed journals through the nearest university library. Journals are typically located in the reference section of the library and cannot be borrowed for long-term use, so most volumes will be available for review and photocopying. Most library systems allow members of the community to utilize reference sources, though some may require an identification badge or security check.
Many publishers have begun to transmit issues electronically or provide website access for those who subscribe to the journal. Subscriptions vary widely in cost, beginning at approximately $25 per year and escalating into the hundreds of dollars per year. In some cases, a journal subscription is included as a benefit of association membership. For example, a subscription to the Journal of Life Care Planning is included in the annual membership fee of the International Association of Life Care Planners.
Many journals provide the table of contents and/or the abstracts for articles appearing in recent issues. There are also journals providing full text of articles free of charge, or at a nominal fee, online. Networking with other planners and practitioners, attending seminars and continuing education workshops, and joining professional listserve discussion groups may provide additional sources of useful information.
References
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