Alcohol, Drug and Disability Training Project

The Alcohol, Drug and Disability Training Project intends to substantially increase the quality of training and program development materials to assist alcohol and other drug (AOD) programs and professionals to provide effective treatment services to certain categories of people with disabilities. The disabilities include persons with mobility impairments such as spinal cord injury, visual impairments, blindness, and developmental disabilities that include mental retardation. The project has three specific aims: 1) assess the feasibility of developing commercially viable training materials, as well as to test the effectiveness of various delivery mechanisms and prototypes, 2) design disability specific training and technical assistance materials that are tailored to the specific needs of AOD treatment professionals, and 3) create materials that contain core competencies to ensure that persons utilizing the materials will integrate into their skill base an understanding of the special issues involved with providing treatment services to the target populations. To accomplish these aims, the project will conduct a mail survey (with telephone follow-up) and key informant interviews of a representative sample of AOD professionals and training directors from California's community- and hospital-based alcohol and other drug treatment programs. Analyses of the data will include univariate, bivariate, and multivariate examinations.