Adoption of evidence-based practices among substance abuse treatment providers.

This research was conducted at a Substance Abuse Forum designed to address local community needs by focusing on Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) in addiction treatment. Topics at the forum were selected based on community treatment provider interest expressed by clinicians participating in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN), as well as a survey of executive directors from six local substance abuse treatment programs. The purpose of the study was to assess substance abuse treatment professionals’ readiness to adopt EBPs, experience with EBPs, and attitudes toward EBPs, as well as agency support for EBPs. A total of 119 addiction treatment providers completed pre-test measures, collected at the start of the Substance Abuse Forum, and 82% completed a post-test, collected after participants attended workshops on specific EBPs. Eighty-three percent of participants reported using some EBPs in the past year (primarily Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy or Motivational Interviewing, and Twelve-Step Facilitation), and 75% reported currently using EBPs. Participants who were currently licensed or certified in addictions had less negative attitudes toward EBPs than those without credentials. While respondents reported agency support for EBPs, most expressed interest in further training. This study underscores the movement toward EBPs in addiction treatment and the need for effective dissemination and training in this area.