Designing for Dissemination: The Utility of the Deployment-Focused Model of Intervention Development and Testing for Parent-Mediated Intervention

Abstract

There are many identified barriers to the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based care for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Modifications to the way in which interventions are developed, studied, and implemented are necessary to facilitate fit between interventions and the community settings in which they will ultimately be delivered. Throughout this chapter, we will describe how the deployment-focused model of intervention development can be used in the development and evaluation of parent-mediated interventions for children with ASD to increase the likelihood of dissemination and implementation to ultimate practice settings. We will use our own experience with the development and evaluation of Project ImPACT (Improving Parents as Communication Teachers), a parent-mediated social communication intervention for young children with ASD, to illustrate a number of key points in the model. We will also address how other key concepts from the field of dissemination and implementation can be applied to the intervention development process, with the goal of facilitating treatment uptake and implementation.