BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENTISTS AND PRACTITIONERS - THE CHALLENGEBEFORE US

The need to develop effective and efficient strategies for the dissemi nation of evidence-based health care has been recognized by government s, researchers, and clinicians alike. However, recognition and impleme ntation are separate issues. If scientists are to have a significant i mpact on clinical practice, they will have to learn a new way of ''doi ng business.'' Lessons from the business community and from the field of diffusion of innovations research (dissemination research) have dir ect applicability to disseminating science-based clinical procedures. This paper presents two examples of the successful integration of scie nce and clinical practice. The goal in each case was to address proble ms fundamental to dissemination research, specifically for addictions treatment. The first example demonstrates how scientists and practitio ners successfully worked hand-in-hand to integrate science and practic e, by creating a clinical protocol that subsequently served almost 300 clients. The second example describes the successful dissemination of a clinical research intervention into community settings. The key to effective dissemination was to make practitioners true partners in the research, development, and dissemination process. For the effective w edding of clinical science and practice on a wide scale, dissemination must be adopted as a value and become a major objective of health car e organizations. Current health care emphasis on evidence-based practi ce suggests that alliances between practitioners and scientists will p oint the way to clinical standards of practice for the next millennium .