STAFF PERCEPTIONS ABOUT BARRIERS TO INNOVATIVE BEHAVIORAL REHABILITATION PROGRAMS

Some staff attitudes about behavioral innovations may hinder the imple mentation of those innovations. Understanding these attitudes may lead to interventions that reduce barriers to the implementation of innova tive strategies. Forty-nine members of the clinical staff at a large s tate hospital completed pencil-and-paper measures of burnout, collegia l support, and perceived barriers to behavior therapy. The results sho wed that staff members who were burned out or who reported little supp ort from colleagues were more likely to perceive significant barriers to implementing behavioral programs. Subsequent multiple-regression an alyses suggested that burnout and collegial support did not account fo r independent variance in the perception of barriers. Post hoc tests s uggested that staff members who had prior experience with behavioral i nterventions were less likely to perceive significant barriers to thei r implementation. Implications for improving the treatment team's rece ptivity toward behavioral interventions are discussed.