Implementing guidelines for interventions in Swedish substance abuse treatment: A national evaluation of outcomes from 2010 to 2014.

In 2009, the Swedish government launched a nationwide dissemination and implementation project regarding substance abuse treatment, Knowledge to Practice (KTP), which was commissioned by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (SoS). AIM: The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a national project to disseminate and implement evidence-based assessment instruments and treatment methods, and to promote cross-sectional collaboration in substance abuse treatment. DESIGN AND RECRUITMENT: This study was a naturalistic prospective follow-up study of a sample of 3063 participants in 203 municipalities via five consecutive online surveys. Of the 21 Swedish regions, we included 20. All participants, representing 79.5% of the population, were employed in substance abuse treatment/care within social work and psychiatry. We used individual background variables and factors in the organizational readiness for change (ORC) questionnaire for prediction. METHODS: We calculated descriptive statistics using SPSS 24.0. We applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify respondents with distinct growth profiles across five assessment points. Next, we calculated multilevel growth curve analyses using full information maximum likelihood analysis (FIML) in Mplus 8.3. In the analyses, we nested "within-person change" (level 1) in "between-persons analysis" (level 2). We, in turn, nested these in municipalities/regions (level 3). We included both respondents and organizational predictors in levels 2 and 3. We tested four statistical models in the multilevel analyses to predict the outcome. RESULTS: The annual response rate was 59% on average across the five years. Respondents were a homogenous group with regard to education and years of employment, and two thirds were women. We identified four different trajectories nationwide, which showed different growth profiles for the use of methods and assessment instruments. Our results showed a larger between-region variation than within-region variation in outcome indicators. Some regions were more successful than others over the five years. At the respondent level, the years of employment in treatment work was associated with increased use of assessment instruments, while the ORC factor, institutional resources, predicted decreased use of assessment instruments. Specialist competence and the ORC factors staff attributes (job satisfaction, efficacy, and influence) and institutional resources predicted increased use of psychosocial treatment methods. The ORC factor organizational climate was positively associated with increased cross-sectional collaboration activities.

Organizational Readiness for Change (ORC) test used in the implementation of assessment instruments and treatment methods in a Swedish National study.

Organizational climate and related factors are associated with outcome and are as such of vital interest for healthcare organizations. Organizational Readiness for Change (ORC) is the questionnaire used in the present study to assess the influence of organizational factors on implementation success. The respondents were employed in one of 203 Swedish municipalities within social work and psychiatric substance/abuse treatment services. They took part in a nationwide implementation project organized by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR), commissioned by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. AIM: The aims were: (a) to identify classes (clusters) of employees with different ORC profiles on the basis of data collected in 2011 and (b) to investigate ORC profiles which predicted the use of assessment instruments, therapy methods and collaborative activities in 2011 and 2013. DESIGN AND RECRUITMENT: The evaluation study applied a naturalistic design with registration of outcome at consecutive assessments. The participants were contacted via official e-mail addresses in their respective healthcare units and were encouraged by their officials to participate on a voluntary basis. STATISTICS: Descriptive statistics were obtained using SPSS version 23. A latent profile analysis (LPA) using Mplus 7.3 was performed with a robust maximum likelihood estimator (MLR) to identify subgroups (clusters) based on the 18 ORC indexes. RESULTS: A total of 2402 employees responded to the survey, of whom 1794 (74.7%) completed the ORC scores. Descriptive analysis indicated that the respondents were a homogenous group of employees, where women (72.0%) formed the majority. Cronbach's alpha for the 18 ORC indexes ranged from α=0.67 to α=0.78. A principal component analysis yielded a four-factor solution explaining 62% of the variance in total ORC scores. The factors were: motivational readiness (α=0.64), institutional resources (α=0.52), staff attributes (α=0.76), and organizational climate (α=0.74). An LPA analysis of the four factors with their three distinct profiles provided the best data fit: Profile 3 (n=614), Profile 2 (n=934), and Profile 1 (n=246). Respondents with the most favorable ORC scores (Profile 3) used significantly more instruments and more treatment methods and had a better collaborating network in 2011 as well as in 2013 compared to members in Profile 1, the least successful profile. CONCLUSION: In a large sample of social work and healthcare professionals, ORC scores reflecting higher institutional resources, staff attributes and organizational climate and lower motivational readiness for change were associated with a successful implementation of good practice guidelines for the care and treatment of substance users in Sweden. Low motivational readiness as a construct may indicate satisfaction with the present situation. As ORC proved to be an indicator of successful dissemination of evidence-based guidelines into routine and specialist healthcare, it can be used to tailor interventions to individual employees or services and to improve the dissemination of and compliance with guidelines for the treatment of substance users.

Criminal behavior in antisocial substance abusers between five and fifteen years follow-up.

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is one of the most common co-occurring disorders in substance abusers, characterized among other things by a high propensity for criminal actions. A cohort of 125 substance abusers were followed in a longitudinal design. Patients were diagnosed with ASPD at an index treatment episode, interviewed at five-year follow-up, and followed-up through the Swedish criminal justice register by 2005 for the years 1995-2003. ASPD and non-ASPD subjects were compared using Mann Whitney U test for ordinal variables (number of offenses and months in prison) and chi-square tests for categorical variables. A total of 107 were alive by 1995, when the period of observation began. ASPD diagnosed at baseline was related to criminal offenses and incarceration during the follow-up from 5 to 15 years. For most categories, ASPD diagnosis was associated with higher frequency of offense. An ASPD diagnosis based on SCID-II interview made at five-year follow-up was related to the number of offenses but unrelated to incarceration. In a sample of drug abusers, ASPD was associated with high levels of criminal behavior, even years after the diagnosis was given. A diagnosis based on clinical observation during treatment was at least as predictive of criminal behavior as a diagnosis based on a SCID-II interview.