ASSESSING SUBSTANCE-ABUSE TREATMENT PROVIDER TRAINING NEEDS - SCREENING SKILLS

Screening instruments far substance abuse can be expeditious and effec tive clinical tools. A training needs assessment conducted with a rand omly selected sample of substance abuse treatment providers (n = 1684) in licensed facilities in New England identified the adequacy of trai ning, interest in training, clinical skill, and training need in the u se of 13 substance abuse screening instruments. The results revealed t hat New England substance abuse treatment providers are not skilled in the use of screening instruments and have a high level of training ne ed in this area. Differences in screening skill were found among the N ew England stares. In addition, women and those with less treatment ex perience have lower screening skill; similarly women, those having les s experience in the field, and social workers and nurses evidenced hig her training need in screening. The discussion considers skill, adequa cy of training, training interest, and training need. The conclusion s uggests that one approach to the coexisting increased need for screeni ng skills due to managed care requirements and the lack of interest in these skills is to study managed care marketplace demands to determin e training priorities. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science.