Parents Translational Research Center
At the Treatment Research Institute

Developing a Consumer Guide to Adolescent Drug Treatment
John Cacciola, Ph.D.

When adolescent alcohol and drug abuse requires treatment, few parents know which features of treatment are important and there are few resources to help them select appropriate care.  This is not true when a parent wants to make a decision about which college education, health plan or even television to buy for their adolescent.  In each of those decisions, consumer-oriented publications offer accurate, comparative information on important features associated with quality and value. The most immediate purpose of this information is to inform and direct an individual consumer’s purchase.  But a second, longer range purpose is to improve the service marketplace: informed consumers are an essential force for improving availability, quality and costs of services and products – particularly healthcare services.
 
In 2003, Mathea Falco (Project Co-I) and her Drug Strategies team performed the first comparative study of “evidence based practices” (EBPs) available in 144 “highly regarded” adolescent treatment programs.  They interviewed Program Directors, asking standardized questions about availability of 45 EBPs.   This simple, face valid count revealed that the highest scoring program reported only 33 of the 45 EBPs; and the average score was 23.  Drug Strategies translated this information into a consumer guide called “Treating Teens: A Guide to Adolescent Drug Programs” which listed the available EBPs for these 144 programs, in a simple, easy to understand narrative. Six years later, the original information on these programs is still in wide demand.

Consistent with the theme of the Center, translational research to produce practical, evidence-based tools for parents, this project is updating and improving this measurement approach, developing and performing feasibility testing of an adapted protocol to produce a Consumer Guide for parents whose adolescents need treatment.  We will do this in three phases over 60 months in one city (Philadelphia).  Final products will be a tested comparative evaluation protocol, an engaging, useful presentation format and a dissemination plan for a Consumer Guide protocol suitable for use in other cities around the United States. View presentation.