Community-Based Effectiveness Trials as a Means to Disseminate Evidence-Based and Culturally Responsive Behavioral Health Interventions

This article adds to the existing knowledge about innovative community-based approaches used to reduce and eliminate behavioral health disparities. Special attention is given to culturally appropriate interventions that increase access to care and that improve the quality of behavioral health services across different geographic regions and communities. Effectiveness trials are presented as appropriate tools to translate existing efficacious interventions into real-world settings. This article describes how to transition from efficacy to effectiveness, including factors essential to consider from the perspectives of university-based research teams and community-based organizations (CBOs). A case study illustrates how a university-CBO partnership mastered the complexities of transitioning an efficacious family intervention to a community setting while nurturing a new partnership. Included are implications of the study related to social work education and social work practice. Lessons learned about critical components of the community-based research collaboration and recommendations for future research are provided.