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Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Community Behavioral Health: Agency Director Perspectives

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Abstract

Despite a growing supply of evidence-based mental health treatments, we have little evidence about how to implement them in real-world care. This qualitative pilot study captured the perspectives of agency directors on the challenge of implementing evidence-based practices in community mental health agencies. Directors identified challenges as limited access to research, provider resistance, and training costs. Director leadership, support to providers, and partnerships with universities were leverage points to implement evidenced-based treatments. Directors’ mental models of EBP invoked such concepts as agency reputation, financial solvency, and market niche. Findings have potential to shape implementation interventions.

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Acknowledgements

The preparation of this article was supported by the Center for Mental Health Services Research, at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis; through an award from the National Institute of Mental Health (5P30 MH068579).

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Correspondence to Enola K. Proctor.

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Proctor, E.K., Knudsen, K.J., Fedoravicius, N. et al. Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Community Behavioral Health: Agency Director Perspectives. Adm Policy Ment Health 34, 479–488 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0129-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0129-8

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