title: Examining the sustainment of the Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach in community addiction treatment settings: protocol for a longitudinal mixed method study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although evidence-based treatments are considered the gold standard for clinical practice, it is widely recognized that evidence-based treatment implementation in real world practice settings has been limited. To address this gap, the federal government provided three years of funding, training and technical assistance to 84 community-based treatment programs to deliver an evidence-based treatment called the Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA). Little is known about whether such efforts lead to long-term A-CRA sustainment after the initial funding ends.
  
  
  METHODS
  We will use a longitudinal mixed method data analytic approach to characterize sustainment over time and to examine the factors associated with the extent to which A-CRA is sustained. We will use implementation data collected during the funding period (e.g., organizational functioning, staff certification rates and penetration) and supplement it with additional data collected during the proposed project period regarding implementation quality and the hypothesized predictors of sustainment (i.e., inner and outer contextual variables) collected over three waves from 2013 to 2015 representing program sustainment up to five years post-initial funding.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence the evidence-based treatment sustainment may lead to more effective dissemination strategies and ultimately improve the quality of care being delivered in community-based addiction treatment settings.
authors.forename: Sarah B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Lynsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ayer
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Bryan R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Garner
authors.forename: Susan H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Godley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D005380:Financing, Government; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States; D014482:United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration