Substance misuse services: delivery of psychological interventions

Strategy aimed at increasing access to support for people working to recover from problematic alcohol and drug use.


Appendix 2: Outcome measurement

The use of validated outcome measures or, when not available, regular structured evaluation is advised to determine whether a specific intervention is effective. These provide a useful overview of added value for commissioners, and help to guide service delivery and development. The table below provides examples of commonly used outcome measures. Please note that this does not represent a prescriptive or exhaustive list. Measures for therapeutic interventions should be selected on the basis of the target symptoms or disorders for change via therapy.

Examples of commonly used outcome measures

Type of intervention

Recommended outcome/evaluation measures

Recommended frequency

Direct psychological intervention

CORE / CORE – 10 (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation)

HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale)

BDI (Beck Depression Inventory)

BAI (Beck Anxiety Inventory)

MHCS (Mental Health Confidence Scale)

WEMWS (Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale)

WSAS (Work and Social Adjustment Scale)

Brief COPE

DERS (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale)

Impact of Events Scale - Revised

Pre- and post- therapy

Regularly during therapy as per local guidelines/clinical need

Trauma-focused group work

CORE/ CORE – 10 (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation)

DERS (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale)

MHCS (Mental Health Confidence Scale)

WEMWS (Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale)

WSAS (Work and Social Adjustment Scale)

Pre- and post-group

Supervision – general

The Division of Clinical Psychology ( DCP) [24] recommends that supervision can be monitored in a variety of ways, including formal audit and via annual appraisal

Annual (at a minimum)

Coaching – Motivational Interviewing ( MI/core skills

Local psychology services will utilise bespoke evaluation measures to determine the effectiveness of individual coaching sessions; these will typically include a mixture of qualitative and quantitative items

After each coaching session

MI practice

An individual staff member’s competency in MI can be assessed using measures such as:

  • MIASTEP (Motivational Interviewing Assessment – Supervisory Tools for Enhancing Proficiency)
  • MITI (Motivation Interviewing Treatment Integrity)
  • MITS (Motivational Interviewing Target Scheme)

These measures are used by an experienced MI practitioner to assess an individual’s competence in delivering MI either via direct observation or audio/visual session recording

As per local supervision and coaching policy

Contact

Alcohol and Drug Delivery team: Alcohol_and_Drug_partnerships@gov.scot

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