Evidence based practice (EBP) has today become such an important concept that if someone in the health care field has not heard of it, it could be tantamount to having "missed the boat". This boat of course is led and navigated by an organization that pioneered and continues to promote and support the synthesis, transfer and utilization of evidence towards the improvement of health care outcomes globally. This organization is the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).

The Asia region has been part of JBI since its inception 20 years ago. The first Asian collaborating center to be established was the Hong Kong Center in 1996, the same year JBI was founded. This was followed by the center in Thailand in 2002, after which centers sprouted across South East and East Asia and also most recently in India. Currently the Asia region is the region with the greatest representation in the Joanna Briggs Collaboration, totaling 15 JBI Centers of Excellence and Affiliated Groups.1

Evidence based practice was initially conceptualized by the medical profession. Dr. David Sackett,2 the "father of evidence-base medicine", was a key force in taking the concept of basing care on best evidence from theory to practice. He emphasized the importance of integrating the best available evidence with careful clinical judgment developed from experience and the preferences of the patients in the process of making decisions about the care of individual patients. However, in reality, whether evidence based practice is achievable depends on a number of factors: the health care contexts, the readiness of practitioners, and the commitment of the management of organizations involved to embrace and drive change. Since Sackett first coined the phrase evidence based medicine, other health disciplines have embraced the concept and readily identified with their application of evidence to inform their practice. Today evidence based nursing, evidence based pharmacy and evidence based dentistry are examples of its force and appeal throughout health care.

Based on the JBI model of evidence based health care,3 evidence from primary research is synthesized, transferred and implemented. Evidence synthesis, evidence transfer and evidence implementation are the "pillars" of EBP that are instrumental in getting evidence into practice in order to improve global health. Each of these components are important and each has its own theoretical framework and unique processes. Across the Asia region, JBI Centers focus on different aspects of the JBI model. As examples, centers that focus on evidence synthesis include The Thailand Centre for Evidence Based Health Care and The Taiwan Joanna Briggs Institute Collaborating Centre. Those that focus on evidence transfer include The Japan Centre for Evidence Based Practice and Fudan University Centre of Evidence-based Nursing. Centers that focus on evidence implementation include Yonsei Evidence Based Nursing Centre of Korea and Singapore National University Hospital Centre for Evidence Based Nursing. Other centers which have not been mentioned have also worked tirelessly to drive evidence based practice.

Together, the work of these diverse organizations serves to further JBI's vision and mission to provide the best available evidence to inform decision making at the point of care and policy making. Over the years, the Asia region centers have fostered a strong bond through networking and sharing of experiences and strategies which have proven to be highly valuable in efforts to integrate evidence into our culturally diverse healthcare settings. Collaborative activities have included the running of JBI Comprehensive Systematic Review Training Programs across centers, mentorships for conducting systematic reviews, and support for the establishment of centers. Panel discussions at key events and regional meetings have also provided the opportunity for members to share tips and pointers on how to overcome particular challenges in the quest to further evidence based practice in individual countries.4

In the last 20 years, although each center has focused on different aspects of the JBI evidence based health framework, their work has been complementary and has collectively contributed to the global evidence-based health care movement. For example, centers that undertake evidence translation also conduct systematic review training, and centers that conduct evidence synthesis also promote evidence implementation in affiliated clinical settings and facilities through initiatives such as translating Best Practice Information Sheets into local languages for easier accessibility by local practitioners. Additionally, a workshop for clinical guideline development as a way to transfer evidence in practice settings was also conducted.

Over the last 20 years, the Asia region has been pooling their resources together to expand the ripple effect of the Joanna Briggs Institute pebble to help make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

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