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Using clinical guidelines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sarah Marriott  and
Claire Palmer
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Guidelines are statements which help people to decide what to do. Familiar examples include the Highway Code, or the ‘How to Prepare’ instructions on a jar of coffee. Traditionally, clinicians have sought knowledge from their senior colleagues, tutors and mentors, textbooks and published articles. They will continue to do so. However, there has been a recent surge of interest in guidelines on specific clinical topics. This has been driven by interest in unexplained variation in patterns of care, concern that some care is inappropriate, and the growing demand for routine, clinically effective practice. Because clinicians have limited time and resources, it can be helpful to summarise evidence for effectiveness where it is available and provide it in a concise format (see Box 1).

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , January 1998 , pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1998 

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