COMMUNITY UTILIZATION OF EVIDENCE-BASED REPOSITORIES

For the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under subcontract to Western Michigan University, DSG co-led a 3-year R21 study to examine the utility and impact of evidence-based program registries by the public and by the single-state and provider sector (nonprofit, for profit, and government operated) across 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Community Utilization of Evidence-Based Registries in Behavioral Health Care study collected data from key evidence-based program repository (EBPR) stakeholders—namely, registry users and program administrators—in three major fields of behavioral health care: substance use (drugs/alcohol), mental health, and child welfare. Key tasks included recruiting and interviewing single-state and provider-based administrators (from 18 administrative entities in the eastern United States), data entry and cleaning, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and the development and dissemination of reports and scholarly products.

This was a comprehensive investigation of to what extent EBPRs actually are effective in increasing the implementation of evidence-based programs and practices in the real world of community behavioral health care. DSG staff interviewed key stakeholders of the registers (policymakers and program developers in single-state and provider sector agencies). The study examined the impact of EBPRs in the single-state and provider sector (nonprofit, for profit, and government operated) behavioral healthcare agencies in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The central question was, among policymakers and program developers in the healthcare community, what was the extent of awareness of these registers and are they being used in any way to identify and implement evidence-based programs and practices? DSG interviewed more than 50 healthcare and child welfare administrators across eight states.

CONTACT US ABOUT THIS PROJECT

For more information about the Community Utilization of EBP registries project, contact project director Brandn Green at [email protected] or 301.951.0056.