title: Employing continuous quality improvement in community-based substance abuse programs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article aims to describe continuous quality improvement (CQI) for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs in a community-based organization setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  CQI (e.g., plan-do-study-act cycles (PDSA)) applied in healthcare and industry was adapted for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs in a community setting. The authors assessed the resources needed, acceptability and CQI feasibility for ten programs by evaluating CQI training workshops with program staff and a series of three qualitative interviews over a nine-month implementation period with program participants. The CQI activities, PDSA cycle progress, effort, enthusiasm, benefits and challenges were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that CQI was feasible and acceptable for community-based substance abuse prevention and treatment programs; however, some notable resource challenges remain. Future studies should examine CQI impact on service quality and intended program outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study was conducted on a small number of programs. It did not assess CQI impact on service quality and intended program outcomes. Practical implications- This project shows that it is feasible to adapt CQI techniques and processes for community-based programs substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. These techniques may help community-based program managers to improve service quality and achieve program outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is one of the first studies to adapt traditional CQI techniques for community-based settings delivering substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. chinman@rand.org
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chinman
authors.forename: Sarah B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ebener
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D006801:Humans; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards