Dissemination and Adoption of Innovative Psychosocial Interventions

Many challenges face researchers, developers of innovative programs, and practitioners as they attempt to promote the spread of new clinical interventions. Traditional dissemination methods such as journal articles and conferences have many limits. Three examples of successful utilization are described concerning, respectively, the Behavior Analysis and Modification Project, the Teaching Family Model for group home treatment of deviant adolescents, and the Fairweather Hospital-Community Treatment Program (Lodge Program). Interpersonal contact between potential adopters and those knowledgeable about innovations, outside consultation on the adoption process, organizational support for innovation, persistent championship by agency staff, adaptability of the innovation, and availability of credible evidence of success were the six main factors that appeared to promote utilization in these three examples. These factors are consistent with findings from the larger literature on utilization, and most are relevant to adoption of innovations by individual psychotherapists as well.