A Progressive Process for Technology Transfer of a Complex, Effective Psychosocial Intervention Methods and Preliminary Results

摘要

Addiction treatment has made substantial gains in development of effective treatments. However, knowledge of how to successfully transfer effective treatments to community clinics has lagged and remains an important challenge for the field. This research addressed this knowledge gap by devising and testing a progressive stage model for transfer of a effective but complex multimodal intervention for homeless substance abusers. Described are progressive methods for: site selection; manual development; development of component fidelity checklists and assessment procedures; site visit training: videotaping adherence procedures and measures; fidelity assessments on pilot study participants; research interviewer training; and, weekly conference calls to monitor progress. Results from methods used to elucidate and observe counselor therapeutic behaviors while conducting treatment components provide empirical data on fidelity of the transfer process for each component. Results reveal that delineating and use of core component behavioral checklists during training of each treatment component elicit relatively high levels of fidelity with 1 to 2 trials. However, complex components with many criterion behavior items, take longer to achieve sufficient treatment fidelity. Implications for use, and possible improvement, of this progressive method are discussed for transfer and fidelity assessment of other effective multicomponent psychosocial interventions.