Substance Abuse Counselors' Implementation of Tobacco Cessation Guidelines

Abstract

This study assessed the extent of implementation of the Public Health Service tobacco cessation guidelines among a national sample of counselors working in five different types of substance abuse treatment programs. Further, we identified implementation patterns among counselors using cluster analysis and considered differences in counselor characteristics based on their cluster membership. Data were obtained from the 2008 Managing Effective Relationships in Treatment Services (MERITS I) project. Counselors (N = 615) working in Clinical Trials Network (CTN) affiliated community treatment programs completed paper-and-pencil surveys. Implementation of the guidelines was inconsistent and selective. Counselors could be grouped into low versus high implementers. Some counselor characteristics differed based on their implementation cluster membership.

Keywords:

• evidence-based practices
• implementation research
• substance abuse counselors
• tobacco cessation

Notes

^†This research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01DA019460) awarded to Lillian T. Eby. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not the granting agency.

*Scale of 1 = never, 2 = not often, 3 = occasionally, 4 = most times, 5 = always.

**Identify patients who are interested in quitting.

***Counsel and support patients who are interested in quitting.

****Omitted from subsequent analyses due to cross-loading.

*N = 314 (51%)

**N = 301 (49%)

***Scale of 1 = never, 2 = not often, 3 = occasionally, 4 = most times, 5 = always; Identify = identify patients who are interested in quitting; Counsel = counsel and support patients who are interested in quitting.

*p < .05

**p < .01.