Our everyday practices are informed by our professional knowledge base and personal experiences. We blend this information to guide us and rationalize that our actions in practice are evidence-based. During our professional education, we learn that evidence-based practice (EBP) is “the integration of best research evidence (when available) with clinical expertise and patient values” (Sackett et al., 1996, p.312). In the absence of research evidence, we must rely on our clinical expertise and the values and preferences of our clients.

ETHICS:

1. A branch of philosophy dealing with values pertaining to human conduct, considering the rightness and wrongness of actions and the goodness or badness of the motives and ends of such actions.
2. Systematic rules or principles governing right conduct. Each practitioner, upon entering a profession, is invested with the responsibility to adhere to the standards of ethical practice and conduct set by the profession.

(Source: https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/ethics)

“. . . when describing human-horse interactions in relation to human services. It is essential that terminology, as outlined, be used to promote clarity, consistency, and transparency in settings including marketing, research, and clinical documentation . . .

The following is an article written by our Research Committee Chair Ellen Erdman It covers details about the AHCB including it’s history and function. 

The American Hippotherapy Certification Board (AHCB), was created in 1998 to develop and maintain a method to validate the knowledge of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech/Language providers using hippotherapy in clinical practice.  This directly supports the AHA, Inc. mission “Improve lives by advancing education, best practices and resources for licensed healthcare professionals who incorporate horses in therapy”.  To provide evidence of advanced education and use of best practices, certification tests were developed.