Evaluating Evidence-Based Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse- Research Questions and Application to the Bradley Case
Researchable Questions about the Efficacy of 12-step Programs
Who would require more help in the population regarding gender, ethnicity, age, and pre-existing disorders?
What are some of the practical outcomes showing how the 12-step programs have worked in various populations?
When it comes to Tiffany Bradley’s case, the most appropriate evidence-based interventions would involve therapy because of the traumatic episodes and fear that Tiffany has experienced in her past life, especially in the social institution where she was supposed to feel safe and secure. Therefore, the most appropriate interventions for Tiffany’s case are therapeutic interventions. The evidence-based interventions in this category entail therapeutic treatment for the offenders as well as their families, based on the belief that the delinquent behaviour emanates not only from the young offenders themselves but also from their families and how their relationship with communities, schools, and groups.
Appropriate Evidence-Based Interventions
The first intervention appropriate for Tiffany is Multisystemic Therapy (MST). MST involves providing in-home treatment to the juvenile delinquent and their family members to enhance parenting effectiveness through the empowerment of parents and teaching the parents about new parenting skills (Small et al., 2005). This intervention aims to minimize the delinquent’s criminal behaviour as well as out-of-home placements. In this case, it would minimize Tiffany’s grievances with her mother, whom she feels did not protect her from her toxic uncles, Nate and Jimmy. It would also reconcile her with her family, whom she greatly misses, including Diana. According to Whittaker (2009), this intervention was developed by Dr. Scott Henggeler, a psychologist. Moreover, with this intervention, the therapists are available for 24 hours, seven days a week, which means Tiffany will have available services. Besides, the intervention is relatively inexpensive, at $5,832 per family (Small et al., 2005).
Another effective intervention that would work with Tiffany’s case is Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (TFC). According to Small et al. (2005), TFC refers to an intervention in which a troubled delinquent gets treatment via trained foster parents and continues attending school in their community. In this program, the case managers would need to supervise the foster parents, coordinate what is needed at school, and develop an individualized behaviour management approach that the foster parents would implement. Additionally, this intervention also entails training the delinquent’s original family so that behaviour management techniques can be adopted in the delinquent’s original home so that when they return home, they may find an ideal environment. This intervention takes approximately six to nine months and helps reduce drug abuse. Therefore, this would be essential for Tiffany’s case to help her mother and father address the drug problem.
Recommendations for Tiffany’s Social Worker
Before choosing between the two interventions, Tiffany’s social worker needs to consider some factors. First, the social worker needs to assess their familiarity with the best available evidence that addresses the questions concerning Tiffany’s case (Thyer, 2010). They should also take note of their particular practice situation and integrate their appraisal of data into the assessment of their talents and skills (Thyer, 2010). Furthermore, Thyer (2010) argues that a social worker must consider the client’s preferences, resources, feasibility, cost, ethical standards, and personal and professional values. All these factors are considered necessary aside from what the research evidence indicates.
The social worker would require the interactive skills necessary to interact with other caseworkers, Tiffany’s family and Tiffany herself. Small et al. (2005) argue that interactive skills help deliver client satisfaction and effectiveness of program or intervention. Aside from that, Small et al. (2005) also advocate for child social skills, which will help offer support and caregiving from a friend and caseworker. Other essential skills that have been scientifically proven to be effective in such scenarios include decision-making skills, leadership, communication, and managing emotions and anger among children and adults. In addition, the ability to give and accept constructive criticism or praise is also a skill in effect (Small et al., 2005).
To implement each program, the social worker needs training in researching to understand the best approaches that are empirically proven in every situation (Thyer, 2010). They also need training in family programs, mentoring delinquents, and social interaction with families with drug problems. They also need training on managing risks, anticipating risks and threats, and conducting home visits. According to Small et al. (2005), they would need training on handling parents alone and how to handle both parents and children.
An Evaluation of Evidenced-Based Practice
In conclusion, as a beginning researcher, I would not have enough knowledge to benefit from researching evidence-based practices because human behaviour is unpredictable, and information has to be built on with new research. Therefore, this will enable the creation of concrete practices based on different contexts and similar cases, such as drug use. Besides, the use of crack and meth may impact different families differently; like in Tiffany’s case, it may have been the reason for the family breakup. Additionally, the research that I have conducted would increase my confidence in the intervention with Tiffany by informing me that there are a lot of risk factors in an interplay that drive the problems that Tiffany faces. These include substance use of her parents, relatives and parents’ friends, family issues, criminal activity of her family, as well as neighbourhood. Having knowledge of such information would give me the confidence to handle Tiffany’s information based on how researchers have found and proven it. Lastly, the information is not quite enough to decide on the interventions. This is because there is still a need for interacting with the possible people and resources needed for the recovery of a client, such as Tiffany’s parents, Tiffany’s school, the authority, and their acceptability to the possible interventions and resources.
References
Small, S.A., Reynolds, A.J., O’Connor, C. & Cooney, S.M. (2005). What Works: Wisconsin: What Science Tells us about Cost-effective Programs for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Thyer, B. A. (2010). Introductory principles of social work research. Handbook of Social Work Research Methods, 1(1), 1-24.
Whittaker, J. K. (2009). Evidence‐based intervention and services for high‐risk youth: a North American perspective on the challenges of integration for policy, practice and research. Child & Family Social Work, 14(2), 166-177.
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Question 
The first steps toward narrowing the gap between research and practice are recognizing that one exists and educating oneself and others. Social workers must realize the benefits and eliminate the misconceptions surrounding evidence-based practice. In the Bradley episode featured in the resources, the social worker combines her assessment of Tiffani Bradley’s situation with her research knowledge to evaluate her supervisor’s recommended intervention. Now that the social worker has recognized a gap, she/he/she needs to access potentially relevant information for a specific case and critically analyze its applicability to that case. This week’s Assignment allows you to practice these critical next steps in the Bradley family case.
Evaluating Evidence-Based Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse- Research Questions and Application to the Bradley Case
Review Episode 4 of the Bradley family case study to prepare for this Assignment. Develop a list with 2–3 researchable questions that you could use to find evidence about the efficacy of 12-step programs or other treatments for substance abuse in adolescents. Then, using the resources provided, search for two evidence-based interventions that would be appropriate for Tiffani Bradley. Be sure to consider the quality of research, readiness for dissemination, replications, and costs.
Summaries of the two interventions and their respective research regarding effectiveness
Recommendations for Tiffani’s social worker that address the following:
Factors to consider when choosing between the two interventions
The social work skills that the staff would require to implement the intervention
The training required to implement each intervention
An evaluation of evidence-based practice based on your reaction to the experience, in which you address the following questions:
Would you, as a beginning researcher, have enough knowledge to benefit from researching evidence-based practices? Why or why not?
How might the research that you conducted increase your confidence in the intervention with Tiffani?
Is the information provided enough to make a decision regarding interventions? Why or why not?
Appropriate APA citations in your writing
I have attached readings from this week’s work for reference.