Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Apr;77(2):270-80.
doi: 10.1037/a0013223.

The impact of evidence-based practice implementation and fidelity monitoring on staff turnover: evidence for a protective effect

Gregory A Aarons  1 , David H Sommerfeld, Debra B Hecht, Jane F Silovsky, Mark J Chaffin
Affiliations

The impact of evidence-based practice implementation and fidelity monitoring on staff turnover: evidence for a protective effect

Gregory A Aarons et al. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2009 Apr.

Abstract

Staff retention is an ongoing challenge in mental health and community-based service organizations. Little is known about the impact of evidence-based practice implementation on the mental health and social service workforce. The present study examined the effect of evidence-based practice implementation and ongoing fidelity monitoring on staff retention in a children's services system. The study took place in the context of a statewide, regionally randomized effectiveness trial of an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce child neglect. In the study 21 teams consisting of 153 home-based service providers were followed over a 29-month period. Survival analyses revealed greater staff retention in the condition where the evidence-based practice was implemented along with ongoing fidelity monitoring presented to staff as supportive consultation. These results should help to allay concerns about staff retention when implementing evidence-based practices where there is good values-innovation fit and when fidelity monitoring is designed as an aid and support to service providers in providing a high standard of care for children and families.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier Survival Function Estimates (Retention Probability) by Study Condition. Note: SC/M = participating in SafeCare and fidelity monitoring; SC/Non = participating in SafeCare, but not fidelity monitoring; SAU/M = services as usual and receiving fidelity monitoring; and SAU/Non = services as usual and not receiving fidelity monitoring.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aarons GA. Mental health provider attitudes toward adoption of evidence-based practice: The Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS) Mental Health Services Research. 2004;6(2):61–74. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aarons GA. Measuring provider attitudes toward evidence-based practice: Organizational context and individual differences. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2005;14:255–271. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aarons GA, Palinkas LA. Implementation of evidence-based practice in child welfare: Service provider perspectives. Administration and Policy in Mental Health & Mental Health Services Research. 2007;34:411–419. - PubMed
    1. Aarons G, Sawitzky A. Organizational climate mediates the effect of culture on work attitudes and turnover in mental health services. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. 2006a;33(3):289–301. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aarons GA, Sawitzky A. Organizational culture and climate and mental health provider attitudes toward evidence-based practice. Psychological Services. 2006b;3(1):61–72. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types