Building Field Agencies' Capacity to Prepare Staff and Social Work Students for Evidence-Based Trauma Treatments

• Published in: Families in society Vol. 98; no. 1; pp. 45 - 56
• Main Authors: Strand, Virginia C., Popescu, Marciana, Way, Ineke, Jones, Annette Semanchin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-01-2017; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Mental health care; Motivation; Social work; Students; Time series; Trauma
• ISSN: 1044-3894; 1945-1350
• DOI: 10.1606/1044-3894.2017.8

Preparing MSW students to use an evidence-based approach to practice and implement empirically supported treatment protocols is imperative for social work education. Both classroom education and field experience are needed. Six schools of social work collaborated with field agencies to assist them in developing the capacity to implement evidence-based trauma treatments (EBTTs) and train social work students in these models. The study used a multisite, interrupted-time series design to assess organizational readiness to implement EBTTs at an agency. Faculty used the National Implementation Research Network implementation framework in their consultation with agencies. Findings from three agencies are used to explore the tasks in each implementation stage. Implications include the possibility of leveraging the motivation of field agencies to collaborate with schools of social work in order to implement evidence-based practice. Results also point to the relevance of using an implementation framework to guide capacity building.