Department of Psychological Sciences' Ashley Helle, PhD, received a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award allows Helle to research one important component of addiction treatment programs, implementing the right treatments for the right patients, which focuses on factors impacting the implementation of evidence-based treatments. Her research goal is to find ways to help providers and systems offer solutions to improve the delivery of quality, evidence-based care for clients and patients.
The Research Career Development Award provides a grant that allows Helle to gain additional expertise in implementation science specific to alcohol prevention and conduct a research project aligning with her training and career development goals. Helle’s research project, which will be ongoing for five years, will investigate best ways of supporting prevention specialists across 23 Missouri university campuses.
New tool, new direction
Helle will be using the CollegeAIM tool, developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. College AIM is a comprehensive toolkit designed to help campuses identify and implement effective alcohol interventions. Each strategy is organized by cost and effectiveness, allowing flexibility in campus intervention programs, based on their program’s specific goals. The tool is fairly new, so Helle’s research will help gather more information about its use, and also identify evidence-based strategies that work within the campus communities.
Helle’s background in clinical psychology and research led her to focus on addiction and implementation science to study methods and strategies that use evidence-based practices to apply in treatments.
“There are treatments that work, but there is something in the way of getting the treatment in the hands of people who really need them,” said Helle, who investigates the gaps and barriers addressing missed opportunities to reach individuals who may want to participate in treatment programs.