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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Richard Finkbiner, PhD¹, Robin H. Pugh-Yi, PhD¹, Fran L. Harmon, PhD¹, and Kevin D. Hennessy, PhD². (1) Research and Evaluation, MANILA Consulting Group, Inc., 6707 Old Dominion Dr., McLean, VA 22101, (703)772-4906, rfinkbiner@manilaconsulting.net, (2) Office of Policy, Program and Budget, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 8-1017, Rockville, MD 20857

Since its creation in 1997, the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) has provided critical information to the public about the scientific evidence support for a wide array of substance abuse prevention interventions. In the process of expanding NREPP to the domains of substance abuse treatment and to the prevention and treatment of mental illnesses, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has explored a variety of mechanisms to enhance the utility of NREPP for multiple audiences. This presentation provides a brief history of NREPP and SAMHSA's Model Programs initiative, and then describes the formal process (i.e., publication of a Federal Register Notice and systematic analysis of responses) employed by SAMHSA to evaluate the informational and decision-support needs of various stakeholder audiences. The presentation will summarize the major themes that emerged from this formal public comment process, and describe the components of a novel decision-support tool designed to enhance access to evidence-based knowledge for multiple audiences. The importance of three guiding principles—transparency, timeliness, and accuracy of information—are discussed within the context of evidence-based knowledge dissemination.

Learning Objectives: