Staff beliefs about addiction treatment

In 1999, the National Institute on Drug Abuse established a researcher/prov ider partnership designed to test the effectiveness of research-based innov ations in community-based treatment settings and facilitate the transfer of those innovations throughout the national treatment system. As a prelimina ry step in developing their local Clinical Trials Network, researchers and treatment providers within the Delaware Valley Node surveyed 317 staff memb ers concerning their beliefs about addiction treatment. More than 80% of re spondents supported increased use of research-based innovations, 12-step/tr aditional approaches, and spirituality in addiction treatment, while only 3 9% and 34%, respectively, endorsed the increased use of naltrexone and meth adone maintenance. Also, 35% of respondents indicated that confrontation sh ould be used more, and 46% agreed with discharging noncompliant patients. I ndividuals with more formal training tended to be less supportive of confro ntation and more supportive of the increased use of medications. Implicatio ns for the clinical trials and technology transfer are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.