NCJ Number
50304
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (SPRING 1977) Pages: 203-210
Date Published
1977
Length
8 pages
Annotation
PROBLEMS IN APPLYING THE RESULTS OF EVALUATION RESEARCH IN THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG DEPENDENCIES ARE DISCUSSED, AND A FORMULATIVE APPROACH TO EVALUATION IS SUGGESTED AS A WAY OF OVERCOMING THESE PROBLEMS.
Abstract
THE TENDENCY TO VIEW EVALUATION RESEARCH AS AN ACTIVITY CARRIED OUT IN OPPOSITION TO SERVICE PROVISION IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF EVALUATION RESEARCH AS A TOOL OF ECONOMIC DECISIONMAKING, AND TO THE TRADITIONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN RESEARCHERS AND SERVICE DELIVERERS. THE DEMANDS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD EMPLOYED IN SUMMATIVE EVALUATION POSE SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN THE FIELD OF ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FIXED NATURE OF DEPENDENT VARIABLES IN FORMAL SCIENTIFIC METHOD MAY IMPOSE A RIGIDITY IN AGENCY GOAL SETTING THAT IS INAPPROPRIATE. AN ALTERNATIVE TO SUMMATIVE EVALUATION RESEARCH IS TREATMENT PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH (TPDR), A CYBERNETIC SYSTEM FOR CONDUCTING AND MANAGING TREATMENT. AS A CYBERNETIC SYSTEM, TPDR HAS BUILT INTO IT A NUMBER OF INFORMATION LOOPS IN WHICH THOSE CONDUCTING TREATMENT AND THOSE MONITORING TREATMENT WORK TOGETHER TO PLAN EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES. TPDR BOTH MEASURES TREATMENT OUTCOMES AND PROMOTES CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT WITHIN TREATMENT PROGRAMS. IN THE FIELD OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE, TPDR CAN PROVIDE FOR THE FLOW OF INFORMATION AMONG AGENCIES, THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NEEDED TO PLAN AND CONDUCT TREATMENT, AND THE REFERRAL/ASSESSMENT SERVICE COMPONENT OF THE TREATMENT NETWORK. THE USE OF THE TPDR APPROACH TO IMPROVE REFERRAL AND TREATMENT FOR ALCOHOLICS IN KINGSTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, IS DESCRIBED. DIAGRAMS SHOWING PATIENT REFERRAL PATHS ARE INCLUDED, AS IS A LIST OF REFERENCES. (LKM)