Bridging the Gap



Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice for a Systems Approach to Addiction Treatment Programs

Abstract

National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Networks (CTN) was launched by NIDA in 1999. About 200 community treatment programs were harnessed by the institute by the CTN for the testing of research-based treatments. Recently by the NIDA research and the Blending Teams user friendly products were designed for the use by clinical practitioners during the treatment. The first recommendation to bridge the breach between the study and application is that support must be given to the infrastructure for the facilitation of research of community-based treatment programs by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Centre for Substance Abuse Treatment. The breach between the study and application can easily be bridged through the initial stages of integration of research and practice. The collaboration is highly important as the abuse disorders increases in the community. It is important that an effective action and reciprocal effort takes place. Therefore, it is recommended that the effective communication and timely discussions must take place between the researchers and practitioners.

Thesis statement

For the addiction treatment programs, the research and practice has certain differences among the research and treatment disciplines. This paper focuses on how to close this gap for a systematic approach for successful navigation.

Rationale for topic selection

This topic is selected to bridge the breach between the study and application for the addiction treatment program within the systems approach. The paper focuses on the strategies to bridge and close the gap.

Introduction

There are various people who look for treatment against drug abuse. They are likely to advantage from the NIDA Blending Initiative which is specifically intended for the acceleration of scientific findings into clinical practice. NIDA has committed to bridge the breach between the study and application which is the outcome when the innovative tools were development by the front-line treatment providers at the same time when the results of researchers were available in peer-reviewed magazines. NIDA has been studied by the NIH Institute of studying addiction (drugabuse.gov).

The NIDA Blending Initiative

This initiative was developed as a result of the report by the Institute of Medicine (1998,2003) which noted that there was about 17 years gap between the publication and implication of treatment delivery.

National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Networks (CTN) was launched by NIDA in 1999. About 200 community treatment programs were harnessed by the institute by the CTN for the testing of research-based treatments. The programs used the real world settings by randomized clinical trial and standard of clinical research. The tests resulting from the CTN research studies were completed which were delivered through the Blending Initiative. The results have major three parts: Regional Blending Conferences, Blending Products and State Agency Partnerships. The communication of researchers is promoted by the bi-directional and productive communication, while the pioneer research findings are delivered by the treatment providers and policy-makers (drugabuse.gov).

Regional Blending Conferences

Regional Blending Conferences was launched by NIDA in 2000. It included the series of conference series stating ...