Centers for the Application of Prevention Technologies

The Centers for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPTs) are five regional centers funded by the federal government and are dedicated to increasing the utilization of empirically supported substance abuse prevention programs by local and state organizations. CAPTs were established in 1997 by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, which operates under the umbrella of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The development of CAPTs mirrors a wider movement within the helping professions adopt evidence-based programs and strategies in an effort to increase both the quality of care and the cost-effectiveness of services. Consistent with other areas of research, there is often a gap whereby scientifically supported substance abuse prevention programs fail to be widely adopted in applied settings. Common obstacles to the translation of these programs to real world settings include a lack of dissemination of findings that can result, in part, from the shear amount of available information, as well as organizational barriers encountered by prevention providers (e.g., a scarcity of resources, an entrenched program of services, insufficient infrastructure). In response to this problem, CAPTs were developed to facilitate the delivery of evidence-based prevention by individuals within a community, local and state agencies, and policymakers. The centers are divided into five geographic areas: Central (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Red Lake Nation), Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont), Southeast (Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Virgin Islands), Southwest (Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas), and Western (Alaska, American Somoa, Arizona, California, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Palau, Utah, Washington, Wyoming). Through these networks, CAPTs provide technical assistance as agencies develop, apply, and evaluate alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs and policies. The ultimate goal of these centers is to reduce the gap between research and practice while maximizing the impact of effective and comprehensive prevention programs.

CAPTs facilitate the progression of science from clinical research to applied settings by providing resources, guidance, and support in a variety of domains. To increase dissemination of empirically supported prevention research, CAPTs maintain an online library of the current literature in the substance abuse prevention field, as well as manuals for administering specific protocols. Moreover, CAPTs compiled a list of prevention resources categorized by state for efficient referencing, also available online (http://captus.samhsa.gov/national/about/about.cfm). Interested organizations can use the Web site to search and compare evidence-based prevention services, including information about how prevention has previously been implemented, the target population, and data on the effectiveness of various programs. Furthermore, matching the treatment to the intended recipients is critical for maximizing the [Page 162]acceptability and effect of the prevention program. Accordingly, CAPTs help providers choose and tailor evidence-based preventions to best serve their goals by factoring in the demographic constituency of the target population, barriers to services, and available resources.

During the adoption and implementation phases, CAPTs strive to minimize the challenges that may arise by helping the organization anticipate possible obstacles and develop viable solutions. For instance, in order to implement a prevention program, several agencies within a state or community may have to collaborate. Guided by the notion that an overarching commitment to success is imperative to the success of a program, CAPTs strives to increase communication and cooperation among the participating groups. Another example of a potential barrier to a prevention policy is a concern that the initiative will encounter resistance from other interested parties. In this case, CAPTs may help policymakers strategize ways of minimizing opposition or garnering a strong support base among citizens to increase the popularity of the measure. Making efforts to ensure that the prevention is implemented with limited difficulties is important since an early negative experience may discourage both the sponsors and the targets of the prevention from adopting the measure for the longer term. Similarly, some prevention programs may be delivered on a temporary basis as a pilot program and thus must prove to be feasible, sustainable, and successful in reaching the established goals to be adopted permanently; a problematic trial period may effectively end the delivery of that prevention. Following implementation of the prevention program, CAPTs aid the organization in evaluating the performance of the intervention, including helping make any necessary adjustments to the protocol.

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