Journal Article

The role of implementation organizations in scaling evidence-based psychosocial interventions

Crane, Margaret E., Kendall, Philip C., Ashen, Ceth, Beck, Judith S., Miller, Allen R., McWilliam, Jenna, Sanders, Matthew R., Webster-Stratton, Carolyn, Chorpita, Bruce F., Daleiden, Eric L., Embry, Dennis D., Pickering, John A.

2023

Overview

Background To bring evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to individuals with behavioral health needs, psychosocial interventions must be delivered at scale. Despite an increasing effort to implement effective treatments in communities, most individuals with mental health and behavioral problems do not receive EBIs. We posit that organizations that commercialize EBIs play an important role in disseminating EBIs, particularly in the USA. The behavioral health and implementation industry is growing, bringing the implementation field to an important inflection point: how to scale interventions to improve access while maintaining EBI effectiveness and minimizing inequities in access to psychosocial intervention. Main body We offer a first-hand examination of five illustrative organizations specializing in EBI implementation: Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Incredible Years, Inc.; the PAXIS Institute; PracticeWise, LLC; and Triple P International. We use the Five Stages of Small Business Growth framework to organize themes. We discuss practical structures (e.g., corporate structures, intellectual property agreements, and business models) and considerations that arise when trying to scale EBIs including balancing fidelity and reach of the intervention. Business models consider who will pay for EBI implementation and allow organizations to scale EBIs. Conclusion We propose research questions to guide scaling: understanding the level of fidelity needed to maintain efficacy, optimizing training outcomes, and researching business models to enable organizations to scale EBIs.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Care and treatment / Cognitive behavioral therapy / Colleges & universities / Commercialization / Debate / Dissemination / Empowerment / Evaluation / Evidence-Based Medicine / Health Administration / Health Informatics / Health Policy / Health Promotion and Disease Prevention / Health Services / Health Services Research / Humans / Implementation / Industry / Initial public offerings / Intermediary / Intervention / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental disorders / Mental Health / Organizations / Psychosocial development / Psychosocial Intervention / Public Health / Purveyor / Small business