Predictors of dissemination of family psychoeducation in community mental health centers in Maine and Illinois.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine whether it is possible at the time of staff training to predict whether a mental health center will succeed in implementing family psychoeducation services.


METHODS
Fifteen mental health agencies in Maine and 51 in Illinois in which clinicians and administrators were trained in multifamily psychoeducation were studied. Participants were surveyed immediately after their initial training sessions and nine months later. Participants' demographic characteristics, agency characteristics, and principal components derived from the survey data were analyzed to identify factors associated with implementation of family psychoeducation services.


RESULTS
The regression model successfully predicted which sites would succeed. Success was more likely at sites where the treatment model was viewed more positively at the outset, where real and perceived resource limitations were addressed, where inducements to implementation were seen as less important, and where attention was paid to the difference between new and existing treatment methods. Nearly all the Maine sites (14, or 93 percent) implemented multifamily psychoeducation services, whereas only five of the Illinois sites (10 percent) implemented this form of treatment. The Maine trainees were less skeptical about family psychoeducation and more interested in receiving supervision and consultation. In Maine there was wide-ranging and local consensus before and during implementation, and more federal funding was available than in Illinois.


CONCLUSIONS
Surveys of clinicians allowed prediction of which sites would successfully implement family psychoeducation services. Consensus building and funding appeared to be critical to successful outcomes.
McFarlane
W R
WR
Maine Medical Center, Portland 04102, USA. mcfarw@mmc.org
McNary
S
S
Dixon
L
L
Hornby
H
H
Cimett
E
E
D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D007318:Inservice Training; D008281:Maine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016730:Program Development; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce