ABSTRACT
Globally, a lack of knowledge among health professionals and social workers about causes, consequences, and evidence-based practices (EBPs) for alcohol and other drug (AOD) misuse presents barriers to improved treatment access, use, and outcomes. This chapter first provides an argument for the need of a core curriculum for social workers and other health professionals about alcohol and other drug use, misuse, and disorders. Second, it presents empirical research findings about existing barriers to implementing a core AOD curriculum in the past. Third, the chapter provides an example of how a lack of social work education about AOD content and practice skills resulted in institutions other than higher education taking on this responsibility.
The chapter describes preliminary results from a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)-funded educational training program for social work faculty to teach an empirically supported AOD curriculum and how results from this effort aided the development of an AOD core-curriculum for social work. Finally, this chapter presents AOD core-curriculum recommendations for social workers and other health professionals.
Although a range of effective approaches exist, evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for preventing and treating substance misuse can be very challenging to adopt and implement. The ecological model helps explain why: alcohol and other drug (AOD) misuse stems from multiple levels ranging from the individual and peer networks to institutions, communities, and ultimately societal norms. Many EBIs involve action within the broader community. And, within communities and real-world treatment settings, EBI selection and training alone is often insufficient. As a result, EBIs are not widely used, slow to be adopted, or not used as intended, raising questions about the quality and impact of existing prevention and treatment efforts. The field of implementation science (IS) offers a structured approach to understanding and addressing implementation challenges to expedite the movement of EBIs into routine practice and policy for widespread public health benefit. This chapter introduces implementation science, describes unique challenges to implementing EBIs for preventing and treating substance misuse, and considers key approaches and tools for practitioners and scholars. In particular, we highlight distinctions between prevention and treatment EBIs, and the implications for implementation research and practice.
