Individual Worker-Level Attitudes Toward Empirically Supported Treatments

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: There is a growing literature indicating that organizational and individual worker-level factors affect decisions about whether or not empirically supported treatments (ESTs) are adopted within health care agencies. The purpose of this pilot study is to further investigate and measure worker's attitudes within a community organization. METHOD: A small organization participated in the study due to their diversity in services offered. Of the 92 workers eligible for participation in the study, 66 (72%) completed the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude scale survey. RESULTS: Multivariate analyses revealed that female workers scored higher on both Openness and total score; workers with nursing, education, or psychology majors scored lower than workers with other (excluding social work) majors on both Divergence and total score; and that older workers scored higher on Divergence. CONCLUSION: Although small, this study identifies individual characteristics that are most likely to fit the profile of an EST adopter.