Improving Substance Abuse Treatment

Michele (Mickey) Eliason, PhD, is an adjunct professor at the Institute for Health and Aging at the University of California, San Francisco. She also teaches courses about sexuality and gender at San Francisco State University. Formerly, she was a faculty member in the College of Nursing at the University of Iowa for nearly 20 years. Dr. Eliason has been an applied researcher in the substance abuse treatment field for over 15 years, and is particularly interested in diverse populations including women and sexual/gender minority clients. Her interest in the evidence-based practice movement came out of a four year involvement with the Iowa Practice Improvement Collaborative, funded by CSAT to develop a statewide practice-research collaboration. This highly rewarding experience highlighted the complex barriers to implementing evidence-based practices in the poorly funded and stigmatized settings of community based treatment programs.

Acknowledgments Ch 1: Introduction Challenges A Working Definition of Evidence-Based Practice Overview of the Book Ch 2: What Are Evidence-Based Practices? Bias in Research Studies What Is Treatment as Usual? Research-Practice Gaps Bridging the Gap Types of Research-Based Practices Clinical Practice Guidelines/Consensus Documents Evidence-Based Practices Practice Improvements Some Challenges to the Evidence-Based Practice Movement Conclusions Ch 3: Determining What Is Evidence-Based What Is "Evidence"? Three Efforts to Develop Criteria for Evidence-Based Practice The Iowa Experience The Oregon Mandate The Federal Response: National Registry of Effective Practices and Programs (NREPP) Conclusions Addendum: Suggestions for Developing Criteria Ch 4: Adoption and Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices Assessment of Readiness to Change Instituting Organizational Change Challenges to Implementation Training Issues Client Variation Provider/Staff Variation Program/Agency Variation Buy-In Commitment Negative Attitudes/Lack of Knowledge About Research Lack of Practice-Research Partnerships/Collaborations Lack of Resources Organizational Structure The Practice Itself Stigma Conclusions Ch 5: Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices Process Evaluation (Fidelity) Outcome Evaluation Program Evaluation Conclusions Ch 6: A Research Primer: Overview, Hypotheses, and Variables Why Is Research Important? Types of Research Quantitative and Qualitative Laboratory and Field Studies The Research Process (Step by Step) Research Questions/Hypotheses Variables Conclusions Ch 7: Research Methods Two Basic Types of Research Designs The Gold Standard: Randomized Clinical Trials Other Research Designs Selecting a Sample Generalizability of Samples Institutional Review Boards Loss of Confidentiality Risk-Benefit Analyses Misrepresentation of Risks or Benefits Coercion Safeguards Research Procedures/Data Collection Cross-Sectional Versus Longitudinal Designs Data Collection Methods Conclusions Ch 8: Data Analysis and Interpretation Descriptive Statistics Reliability and Validity of Measurement Tools Interpreting Descriptive Statistics Inferential Statistics Other Statistical Methods Methods for Understanding Inferential Statistics Example: Interpretation of a Clinical Trial Sample Method Outcome Measures Results Interpretation/Application Conclusions Ch 9: Qualitative Research, Dissemination, and Funding Introduction to Qualitative Research Qualitative Methods Another Example of Qualitative Research in Substance Abuse Data Reporting and Dissemination Funding Sources Conclusions Ch 10: Conclusions and Future Directions Barriers to Conducting Research in Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention Agencies Major Themes Identified in This Book Implications for the Field Recommendations Conclusions Glossary of Key Terms References and Web Resources Appendix A: Text of Oregon Law Index About the Author