Abstract
Through a university–community collaborative partnership, the perceived needs of evidence-based practices (EBPs) among school social workers (SSWs) in a large school district in central Florida was assessed. A survey (response rate = 83.6%) found that although 70% of SSWs claim to use EBPs in their everyday practice, 40% do not know where to find them, which may partially explain why 78% of respondents claim to spend 1 to 4 h every week looking for adequate EBPs. From this needs assessment, the translational model was used to address these perceived needs. A systematic review of the literature found 40 tier 2 EBPs, most of which (23%) target substance use, abuse, and dependence. After discussion with academic and community partners, the stakeholders designed, discussed, and implemented a searchable, online, password-protected, interface of these tier 2 EBPs, named Evidence-Based Intervention Toolkit (eBIT). Lessons learned, future directions, and implications of this “one-stop shop” for behavioral health are discussed.
Notes
The authors thank an anonymous peer-reviewer for suggesting the incorporation of this idea.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the staff at the Institute for Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health (ITRABH) at the University of South Florida: Julie Baldwin, PhD, and Bruce L. Levin, PhD, Institute Professors, and Heather Williamson, DrPH, OTR/L, MBA, Graduate Assistant. The authors also thank the staff at Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS): (1) in the School Social Work (SSW) Services Steering Committee: Lynnette Judge, MSW and Evelyn Pearce-Fearson, MSW and (2) in the Department of Information Technology (IT): Daniel I. Schultz, General Manager of Information and Technology; Ken Bazick, Department Manager, IT, Architecture and Integration; Christopher Franklin; and Marianna Aman.
Disclaimer
This research was supported in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Grant 1R25DA031103-01A1 and the Professional Excellence Scholarship of the National Secretariat For Science, Technology, and Innovation (SENACYT), Panama City, Republic of Panama.
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Castillo, H.L., Rivers, T., Randall, C. et al. Placing Evidence-Based Interventions at the Fingertips of School Social Workers. J Behav Health Serv Res 43, 474–483 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-015-9493-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-015-9493-4