This book is for you if you are:
• A student undertaking a pre-registration course in any of the health and
social care professions.
• A registered practitioner, who may be returning to post-qualifying study
after a career break.
It is also for:
• Anyone who feels that they are not sure what to believe when they read
confl icting professional information.
• Those who tend to take things at ‘face value’, and need to dig deeper into
the evidence they come across.
• Practice assessors or mentors1 who are supporting students/learners in practice
and are aware of the need to be more critical of the information and
evidence they use.
You may already know that:
• There is a large amount and many types of information available, and this
is of variable quality.
• You need to be able to make sense of the information that you use in
practice and in your academic writing.
• Some fi ndings from one source may confl ict with those of another.