Abstract
With growing evidence that treatment as usual may have limited effectiveness in mental health the pressure on service providers to be accountable and produce evidence as to the effectiveness of their services has increased. Measurement Feedback Systems, such as the Contextualized Feedback System (CFS), have the potential to be powerful tools for service providers in assessing their own effectiveness at multiple levels with an organization. These systems represent an amalgamation of the data driven world of science and the experience driven world of clinical practice. However, the synthesis of these two worlds is not without significant challenges as these two very different cultures can easily clash. The key for successful collaboration in developing and implementing Measurement Feedback Systems is a good university-practice partnership that has a strong foundation in common goals and the positive relationships among its members. In addition, the partnership needs to be flexible so that it can adapt to new challenges and continuously grow with each obstacle. These are some of several lessons learned the authors of this article will share as part of their experience with developing and implementing CFS in one of the largest behavioral health service providers in the U.S.
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Notes
The MFS was originally called Contextualized Feedback Intervention and Training or CFIT. Subsequently a vastly improved new system was developed that is called Contextualized Feedback Systems (CFS). The present article deals with the old system but will refer to it using the new name, CFS, throughout the remainder of the text.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Tasha Walsh, Leonard Bickman, and Michelle Pitot for their thorough review and helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. We would also thank the anonymous reviewers for the constructive feedback. Preparation of this article was partially supported by grants from NIMH (MH068589-01) and the Leon Lowenstein Foundation. Drs. Kelley and Riemer report that they and Vanderbilt University have a financial interest in CFS.
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Riemer, M., Kelley, S.D., Casey, S. et al. Developing Effective Research-Practice Partnerships for Creating a Culture of Evidence-Based Decision Making. Adm Policy Ment Health 39, 248–257 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-011-0368-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-011-0368-6