NIH Public Access: Looking Forward: The Promise of Widespread Implementation of Parent Training Programs

NIH Public Access
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Perspect Psychol Sci. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2014 November 01.
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Perspect Psychol Sci. 2013 November ; 8(6): 682–694. doi:10.1177/1745691613503478.
Looking Forward: The Promise of Widespread Implementation of

Parent Training Programs
Marion S. Forgatch,
Implementation Sciences International, Inc., Oregon Social Learning Center
Gerald R. Patterson, and
Implementation Sciences International, Inc., Oregon Social Learning Center
Abigail H. Gewirtz
University of Minnesota
Abstract
Over the past quarter century a body of parent training programs has been developed and validated
as effective in reducing child behavior problems, but few of these have made their way into
routine practice. This article describes the long and winding road of implementation as applied to
children's mental health. Adopting Rogers' (1995) diffusion framework and Fixsen and colleagues'
implementation framework (Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005), we review more
than a decade of research on the implementation of Parent Management Training – Oregon Model
(PMTO®). Data from US and international PMTO implementations are used to illustrate the
payoffs and the challenges of making empirically supported interventions routine practice in the
community. Technological advances that break down barriers to communication across distances,
the availability of efficacious programs suitable for implementation, and the urgent need for high
quality mental health care provide strong rationales for prioritizing attention to implementation.
Over the next quarter of a century, the challenge is to reduce the prevalence of children's
psychopathology by creating science-based delivery systems to reach families in need,
everywhere.
Keywords
PMTO; Parent Training; Implementation Science; Empirically Supported Intervention
Twenty-five years ago, parent training programs to address children's behavior problems
were in the process of becoming established as empirically supported interventions1. Now,
in the second decade of the 21st century, we have a substantial set of parent training
empirically supported interventions for youth across developmental stages. With widespread
implementation, these programs hold the promise of reducing the prevalence of child and
adolescent behavior problems, maltreatment and related poor outcomes (Prinz, Sanders,
Shapiro, Whitaker, & Lutzker, 2009). Unfortunately, these programs remain largely
unavailable to families seeking help in community agencies. Learning how to install proven
programs in community practice settings is the challenge of the next quarter century.
Correspondence for this article should be directed to Marion S. Forgatch, Implementation Sciences International, Inc., 10 Shelton
McMurphey Blvd., Eugene, OR 97401; 541-485-2711; [email protected].
1Several terms apply to credentialed prevention and treatment programs, including Empirically Supported Intervention, Empirically
Supported Treatment, Evidence Based Treatment, and Evidence-Based Psychological Practice. We do not distinguish among these in
this paper.
Forgatch et al. Page 2
In this paper, our goal is to outline the implementation process for empirically supported
interventions within community service systems and point to strategies to improve their
uptake and sustained practice with model fidelity. We review the process of the
implementation of one empirically supported parent training intervention and, by way of this
case example, describe the first decade of work implementing Parent Management Training
– Oregon Model (PMTO®; Forgatch & Patterson, 2010; Patterson, 2005). PMTO is little
more than a vehicle for discussing fundamental questions, such as “What are optimal
conditions for, and barriers to, system change in the context of widespread
implementation?” Implementation is a deliberate and dynamic process requiring extensive
collaboration between two systems: the adopting community and the program developer/
purveyor (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2011; Herschell, McNeil, & McNeil, 2004; Proctor et al.,
2009). The interaction between these systems unfolds over time in an orderly fashion
involving many stages (Chamberlain et al., 2008; Fixsen et al., 2005, Rogers, 1995).
Effective communication, interpersonal problem solving and positive relationships promote
the success of the implementation as the systems move through the process of managing
logistics, building infrastructure, and troubleshooting barriers. In its function as delivery
system, the community selects, administers, and evaluates the program; the program
developer serves as the purveyor of change. Together these systems adapt the intervention
for the community's cultures and contexts while ensuring that the method is delivered with
model fidelity. Levels of functioning within and across systems must be coordinated. The
community system includes an executive function that initiates and administers the program,
practitioners who deliver the program and families who receive it. Within the program
system, levels include the implementation director who oversees the installation, trainers
who teach community practitioners to deliver the program with fidelity, and staff and
technology to support the transfer process. In successful implementations, all levels operate
in harmony within and across systems.
In Figure 1, we present a two-system four-stage model for the installation of a psychosocial

intervention in a wide-scale community system: preparation, early adoption,
implementation, and sustainability. In Stage 1, before implementation begins, the
community and program systems ready themselves for change. Rogers refers to this as the
initiation phase; Fixsen and colleagues call it the preplanning and preparation phase (Fixsen
et al., 2005; Rogers, 1995). Once the community selects a program, Stage 2 begins—early
adoption. In Stage 3, the implementation is underway. In Stage 4, the emphasis is on
sustainability.
Implementing an Empirically Supported Intervention: A Case Study with

PMTO
We employ three examples to illustrate the process of implementing PMTO. One is a

nationwide implementation in Norway across two systems of care: child mental health and
child welfare. One is a statewide program in the children's community mental health system
in Michigan; the other is a statewide program in the child welfare system in Kansas. All
three programs began with a failure of the system to provide effective treatment for families
in need. In each case, the community selected PMTO to address the problem.
Stage 1: Preparation
For the adopting community, activities involve identifying a need, designing a plan,
gathering resources, engaging leadership, and selecting a program that can address their
goals. Before a program can be deemed empirically supported, the developer must establish
program credentials by articulating and testing the intervention in well-controlled
conditions, a process that requires years of work. Next, the strategies and tools to implement
the program in real-world settings must be designed and set in operation.
The community system—Wide-scale change requires strong leadership. To undertake

this effort, a person or cohesive group must step forward with a plan. The initiator must have
a unique set of qualities that combines social/political capital, leadership skills, access to
necessary resources, and commitment to see the project through. In other words, the charge
is led by a 900-pound gorilla. Such leaders recognize the need for change and establish goals
that generate support from all levels within the community. Not every implementation
begins in the same way, but the PMTO experience has consistently been a top-down
approach followed by bottom-up support that ultimately engages the middle level. Initially,
the practitioners can be less than enthusiastic to meet the requirements of the
implementation. It is when families communicate their excitement with the successes at
home that practitioner attitudes change. These practitioners often report that they
successfully use the PMTO strategies at home with their own families.
The call for change: In Norway in the late 1990s, problems were increasing for severely
maladjusted youth, the media became involved, and an international expert conference was
organized. As a result, the Ministry of Child and Family Affairs provided funding for a
center tasked with implementing and evaluating evidence-based family treatment programs
on a nationwide basis. PMTO was one of two programs selected for this purpose (Ogden,
Forgatch, Askeland, Patterson, & Bullock, 2005).
In Michigan, the need for change was identified with a study evaluating youngsters treated
in the community mental health system. Results indicated that although some benefits
ensued from community treatment, youngsters with the most substantial problems at
baseline remained in the clinical range at termination (Hodges, Xue, & Wotring, 2004).
These families needed better treatment. Michigan, a state that has suffered more than most
from the economic downturn, had few resources to instigate system change. The statewide
director of community programs for severely emotionally disturbed children competed for
and won funds from the National Institute of Mental Health to begin the implementation
process with PMTO.
In Kansas, the problem concerned children with severe emotional disturbance (SED) in
foster care. These youngsters make up approximately half the state's foster care population,
and compared to non-SED children, they have more placements, fewer and slower exits to
permanency, and are likelier to age-out of care. Reviews of Child and Family Services
conducted in 2001 and 2007 indicated that the state was out of compliance with timely
permanent reunification, timely adoption, and placement stability for SED youngsters in
foster care. A particular concern specified the inadequate services provided for birth parents
(Akin, Bryson, McDonald & Walker, 2012; Bryson, Akin, Blase, McDonald, & Walker, in
press). A program was initiated through a five-year grant provided to the University of
Kansas by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children
and Families (Children's Bureau Express, 2011). Kansas received one of six grants in a
federal effort to test child-welfare plans and promote effective initiatives nationwide.
Thus, in each case, the initiation of wide-scale implementation of PMTO was fully or
partially supported with government funds designed to increase the availability of
empirically supported interventions for youngsters with serious behavior problems.
Selecting a program: The process through which communities select a program varies
considerably. We describe the selection process using the Kansas Intensive Permanency
Project (KIPP) as an example. The project's leadership comprised a management team based
at Kansas University and a Steering Committee with representatives from the four
independent agencies within the state's five regions that provide services for the foster care
system. When experts from the funding team recommended that KIPP adopt an empirically
supported parent training model, the KIPP team searched clearinghouse websites that chart
the attributes and credentials of interventions with established support to facilitate a
systematic comparison. The KIPP selection process required more than 200 hours over three
months. The selection committee conducted telephone interviews with finalist programs and
sought recommendations from outside experts. When they had narrowed the field down to
two programs, the selection team held meetings to reach consensus. Their stated reasons for
selecting PMTO were: fit with the needs of the target population, ability of the intervention
to reduce long-term foster care, the system of fidelity measurement, and long term
sustainability with anticipated systems changes (Bryson et al., in press). A deciding factor
was the PMTO implementation goal to transfer the program to the community by supporting
their development of a self-sustaining infrastructure to conduct continued program training
and delivery with fidelity.
The program system—For an intervention to achieve status as empirically supported and

be suitable for widespread implementation, it must follow a set of clearly defined steps that
take years to accomplish (Chambless & Hollon, 1998; Flay et al., 2005;McHugh & Barlow,
2010). Requirements are based on rigorous experimental design, typically using randomized
controlled trials with intent-to-treat analysis (i.e., once randomized always analyzed), valid
and reliable assessment, lasting effects, and replication. Efficacious programs follow
experimental testing under optimal conditions, careful supervision with select populations,
conducted in academic or research settings. Programs advance to status as effective when
tested experimentally under the “real world” conditions provided in community treatment
centers. Successfully completing these steps can lead to credentials that enable a program to
be listed by clearinghouses that identify empirically supported programs, describing the
program's attributes and evaluating levels of excellence (e.g., Blueprints Project; National
Registry of Evidence Based Programs and Practices/NREPP; California Evidence-Based
Clearinghouse/CEBC, Top Tier). Such empirically supported intervention programs are
suitable for wide-scale implementation. PMTO is prominent on such lists.
PMTO is theory based: The PMTO intervention is founded on social interaction learning
theory, which emphasizes the influence of the social environment on behavioral outcomes
(Forgatch, Patterson, DeGarmo, & Beldavs, 2009; Patterson, 2005). Although all parenting
empirically supported interventions must follow the process of efficacy and effectiveness
testing, not all such programs rest on a solid theoretical foundation. The PMTO intervention
grew out of decades of work reflecting iterations among theory building, basic research, and
intervention development focused on clearly specified social contexts and mechanisms
presumed to account for etiology, growth and maintenance of youngsters' behavior problems
(Forgatch & Patterson, 2010; Patterson, 1982; Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992; Reid,
Patterson, & Snyder, 2002). Two key mechanisms have been defined, both of which involve
reinforcement theory. One mechanism, negative reinforcement, takes place primarily within
the family context; the other mechanism, positive reinforcement, occurs in the peer context.
In families, coercive processes can begin as early as age two or three and generalize to a set
of overt antisocial behaviors, including noncompliance, temper tantrums, and physical
aggression. As development proceeds, increasing coercion and time spent outside the family
may prompt youngsters' drift into deviant peer groups who advance the shaping process.
Deviant peers provide positive reinforcement for covert behaviors, such as lying, stealing,
and truancy (Dishion, Spracklen, Andrews, & Patterson, 1996; Patterson & Yoerger, 2002;
Snyder et al., 2005). Thus, an effective intervention calls for changes within these two social
contexts. So far, randomized controlled trials of PMTO support the intervention effect on
parenting; PMTO has yet to develop an effective intervention to address the peer context
other than to produce reductions in deviant peer association (Forgatch et al., 2009).
A unique aspect of PMTO relative to other parent training programs is an emphasis on

clinical and teaching processes to reduce resistance to change. This focus grew out of
research on therapy process with studies conducted in the mid-1980s using direct
observation of therapy sessions (Patterson & Chamberlain, 1988; Patterson & Forgatch,
1985; Stoolmiller, Duncan, Bank, & Patterson, 1993). Findings from this body of work
indicated that in addition to client characteristics (e.g., poverty, depression, antisocial
qualities), therapist behavior can drive resistance. For example, when therapists either teach
or confront, resistance increases, and when they combine confrontation with teaching,
resistance increases sevenfold (Patterson & Forgatch, 1985). In response to these findings,
we shaped the intervention to replace pedantic teaching with active teaching, such as role
play and problem solving, and to strengthen supportive clinical processes. The PMTO
fidelity measure integrates the extent to which therapists practice these processes as they
deliver the core content of the program (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2011; Forgatch, Patterson, &
DeGarmo, 2005).
Testing PMTO: Parent training programs engage parents as the agents of change for their
youngsters' behavior problems. In PMTO, parents learn strategies to increase positive
practices and reduce coercion. Five parenting practices have been specified as core
components: Positive reinforcement to promote prosocial behavior, effective limit setting to

decrease deviant behavior, monitoring to ensure that behavior stays on track, family problem
solving to provide skills to prevent and manage stress and conflict, and positive involvement
to emphasize the importance of spending time together in pleasant activity.
To evaluate the efficacy of the program as well as the theoretical model underlying PMTO,
experimental tests were conducted to assess outcomes and verify the hypothesized
mechanisms (Forgatch & Patterson, 2010). In one key study, a randomized controlled trial
with a sample of single mothers provided a clean test of the parenting model by offering
PMTO intervention for the mothers but not the children (Forgatch, et al., 2009). Multiple
agent and method assessments were conducted at regular intervals over the course of nine
years; mediational modeling evaluated parenting practices and deviant peer association as
mechanisms of change for the youngsters' outcomes. In the context of an experimental trial,
mediational modeling can test a theoretical model by showing that intervention effects on
targeted outcomes are brought about by intervention effects on the putative mediators
(Baron & Kenny, 1986; Holmbeck, 1997). The data supported the model and yielded some
unanticipated outcomes. Assignment to the experimental group produced the expected
changes in the two social contexts: improvement in the five core parenting components and
reduction in deviant peer association. These benefits to the hypothesized mechanisms of

change mediated the intervention effects on the youth—significant reduction in teacher-
reported delinquency, deviant peer association, police arrests, and delayed timing of first
arrest. As parents learned to replace coercive practices with positive parenting, they
effectively reduced their youngsters' deviant behavior while increasing their prosocial skills
(Forgatch, Beldavs, Patterson, & DeGarmo, 2008; Forgatch et al., 2009; Patterson, Forgatch,
& DeGarmo, 2010).
The study yielded four surprises: the order of change in parenting practices following
intervention, direct effects on deviant peer association, cascading benefits to maternal
adjustment, and increasing effect sizes. Although PMTO programs start by teaching positive
parenting and follow that with limit setting to reduce coercion, the findings showed that
changes took place in the reverse order. First there was a decline in coercion over 12
months; then growth in positive parenting followed in the subsequent two years.
Incidentally, the reverse of this change pattern was not significant—that is, changes in
positive parenting over 12 months did not predict later growth in coercive parenting. The
second surprise was that the intervention had a direct effect on deviant peer association.
Changes in this domain were not mediated by parenting effects. The third unforeseen
outcome involved positive effects on maternal adjustment, which were mediated by
improved parenting. Relative to control group mothers, those in the experimental condition
showed a significant increase in standard of living (education, income, occupation) and
fewer maternal police arrests over the nine-year follow up. Finally, intervention effects
started small and increased in size over the nine years. In other words, the longer the time in
follow-up, the greater the magnitude of the difference between experimental and control
participants—intervention benefits were increasing. Such perturbations in testing
intervention programs leave room for improving the theory, the basic research and the
intervention itself. Nevertheless, it must be said that this experimental test supported the
basic theory by showing the hypothesized mediators to serve as the engines of change in
youngsters' outcomes.
For an intervention to be suitable for wide-scale implementation, it must be generalizable

across multiple cultures, contexts and populations. Studies of adaptation for these purposes
are underway and represent a new research area in which modifications are introduced
systematically to address variation in families' cultural patterns and problems (Bernal,
Jimenez-Chafey, & Domenech Rodríguez, 2009). For example, two PMTO studies, one in
Detroit with non-English speaking Latinos (Parra-Cardona et al., 2012) and one in Norway
with Pakistani and Somali refugee mothers (Bjørknes, Kjøbli, Manger, & Jakobsen, 2012),
showed the intervention to be acceptable and effective. Other adaptations address the needs
of single mothers residing in a domestic violence shelter (Gewirtz & Taylor, 2009), and
military families experiencing deployment (Gewirtz, Pinna, Hanson, & Brockberg, in press).
Given slightly more than a decade of experience, it has been possible to engage hard-to-
reach families within a variety of cultures and contexts with high degrees of participation
and satisfaction.
Stage 2: Early Adoption

The primary activities during this phase include developing a collaborative relationship and
carrying out training. Because system change is vulnerable to external and internal forces,
success is enhanced when the two systems cooperate to address a seemingly endless supply
of practical challenges (Fixsen et al., 2005). Together the community and program systems
must address the logistics of change with activities that include the following: negotiating a
working contract, training practitioners, tailoring the program for relevant cultures and
contexts, and addressing feasibility and acceptability issues. The two systems may struggle
during this phase as they build and test their collaborative relationship, and many programs
fail to make it beyond this point (Fixsen et al, 2005).
The program system—The activities for the program team are extensive during this
phase as they transfer knowledge with training activities, technical assistance, and
establishing fidelity.
Training: The PMTO training program, which requires approximately 12 to 18 months, is

based on a set of manuals and materials, and includes workshops, practice with simulated
and real cases, and extensive coaching (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2011). Between workshops,
trainees treat families referred to their agency and receive coaching based on video
recordings of their practice, a procedure that significantly strengthens the transfer of learning
from training to application (Salas & Cannon-Bowers, 2001). Individual and group
coachingis provided live, by phone/video conferencing, or in written format. When trainees
achieve a certain standard of proficiency, they are invited to treat two new certification
cases, from which they submit four videos on required topics. Candidates are certified when
they attain a specified passing score on each session.
The training team consists of mentors who themselves have achieved certification as PMTO
specialists, coaches, and trainers. Mentors are also reliable fidelity raters who can score
sessions to certify trainees. The majority of the current training team resides in Oregon,
although mentors come from Norway, Iceland, The Netherlands, Mexico, Michigan, Utah,
and Minnesota. Languages spoken include English, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Spanish,
and Dutch. Leader and parent materials are available in these languages as well.
Model fidelity: Fidelity to the content and process of an intervention must be carefully
evaluated to ensure that the outcomes attained in controlled conditions can be replicated in
the field (Fixsen et al., 2005). Method fidelity is achieved when the program is practiced in
accordance with the theory and goals underlying the method (Dumas, Lynch, Laughlin,
Smith, & Prinz, 2001; Perepletchikova, Treat, & Kazdin, 2007). The measures must provide
reliable, unbiased, and valid assessment of method delivery. Two aspects of fidelity are
particularly relevant: adherence and competent delivery (Dumas et al., 2001; McHugh,
Murray, & Barlow, 2009; Perepletchikova et al., 2007; Waller, 2009; Waltz, Addis,
Koerner, & Jacobson, 1993). Adherence assesses application of the program in terms of the
content and methods spelled out in the treatment manuals. Ratings can be made by the
practitioner, the intervention recipient, or objective observers who listen to or view session
recordings. Competence, a more complex construct, is scored less frequently, perhaps
because ratings must be made by skilled practitioners with inter-rater reliability. Currently,
evidence for reliability and validity of fidelity measures is in scarce supply within the field
of implementation research (Schoenwald & Garland, 2013).
Competent adherence to PMTO is assessed with the Fidelity of Implementation Rating

System (FIMP: Knutson, Forgatch, Rains, & Sigmarsdóttir, 2009). FIMP ratings are made
by reliable certified PMTO Specialists and assess the intervention as delivered with
individual families in community or home settings and in parent groups. Ratings are based
on direct observation of segments of sessions based on core parenting components and
evaluate five theoretically-relevant categories (i.e., Knowledge, Structure, Teaching, Process
Skills, and Overall Development). Procedures, definitions of core parenting practices, and
the rating scale are described in a manual (Knutson et al., 2009).
FIMP was first validated within an efficacy trial with a prevention sample in the United
States and tested again with a clinical sample in Norway. In both studies, FIMP scores
predicted changes in observed parenting practices before and after intervention, as
hypothesized (Forgatch et al., 2005; Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2011). Higher fidelity scores
yielded significantly greater improvement in parenting. In each study, findings were
collected from two settings (intervention sessions and parent-child interactions); fidelity was
observed during intervention; and parenting practices were observed before and after
intervention from parent-child interaction tasks. In one Norwegian study, high fidelity also
predicted greater reports of satisfaction by parents (Ogden, Amlund Hagen, Askeland, &
Christensen, 2009). In another Norwegian study, fidelity scores collected three times during
intervention predicted significant reduction in parent reports of their children's behavior
problems (Hukkelberg& Ogden, 2013). Most importantly, the fidelity findings generalized
from an efficacy prevention trial to a large-scale clinical trial in two cultures and two
systems of care. These studies indicate that the FIMP measure is a valid and generalizable
tool that can be employed in wide-scale implementation research.
Implementation outcomes: An effective training program must produce community

practitioners who demonstrate competent adherence to the method. An important measure of
implementation evaluates growth in fidelity over the course of training: clinicians starting
with low scores should increase; those with high scores at the start should not decline. This
question was evaluated within the PMTO training program in Norway using the FIMP
measure. Fidelity was assessed early, mid, and late in the training program with the
hypothesis that competent adherence would increase steadily and variability in performance
would decrease. As predicted, trainees' performance improved and became significantly
more homogeneous at certification (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2011). During the early and
midpoints of training, there was considerable variation in performance across the full cohort.
At certification, however, all trainees were performing within a relatively narrow range of
excellence.
Another test of a training program assesses the percentage of candidates who complete
training with certification and subsequently conduct community practice with method
fidelity (Durlak & DuPre, 2008; Proctor et al., 2011) In Norway, 83% of the 36 trainees who
began training in 1999 were certified; in Michigan, 89% of the 19 who began in 2006
achieved certification The question is: how long do practitioners maintain their credentials
and continue to practice with certification? Eight years after certification, 91% of the
Norwegians were still certified and providing treatment to families. In Michigan, 16 of the
17 (94%) completers were certified seven years later and still practicing in community
service. It is too early to report on the Kansas project as they are still in training.
The community system—The community supports the early adoption phase of

implementation at the executive level by selecting participant agencies and candidate
providers to be trained. It provides training and treatment facilities, sufficient appropriate
treatment cases, computers for trainees with high speed internet access, child care for
parents during treatment, and time for trainees to learn the program.
At the practitioner level, trainee activities include attendance at workshops and coaching,
studying manuals and other informational material, conducting simulated and actual family
sessions, making video recordings, reviewing sessions and feedback from coaches, and data
management activities (completing case and session information forms, entering information
into the database, uploading video recordings to the secure website). Trainees are required to
attend 85% of workshops, video all sessions, upload videos and data to the database, see a
minimum of training and certification families, submit video recordings of their best work,
and receive passing fidelity scores on their certification sessions. They must do this in a
timely fashion.
Challenges and solutions during early adoption—Things can go wrong at any

stage. The next section describes some issues that emerged during the Norwegian, Michigan,
and Kansas implementations and strategies that were used to address them.
Leaders must promote enthusiasm for the new program throughout the community at every
level—executive, practitioners and their supervisors, and the families who are seeking help.
In Michigan, Jim Wotring (then the director of community mental health programs for SED
children) effectively prepared the way by holding a series of stakeholder meetings to build
buy-in from state and agency leaders and families. This resulted in one agency becoming an
early adopter, using their own resources to initiate the PMTO training. Wisely, the state sent
two clinicians from other agencies to participate in this early start, one of whom emerged to
become the statewide PMTO coordinator. Wotring also organized a parent advocate
committee with meetings to introduce the idea of improving family services by providing
programs that work.
Challenges at the executive level often involved logistics. For example, when the standard
approach to children's behavior problems is direct treatment with the child, parents sit in the
waiting room and child care is not needed. In parent training approaches, clinicians work
directly with parents to shape effective parenting skills. Now who watches the children?
Childcare arrangements had to be made at the treatment centers. In Michigan, another
barrier involved policies that required that the child receive direct services in order for
agencies to receive third-party payments. This policy had to be changed, which required
political capital and cooperation at the highest levels. At the agency level, when offered an
opportunity to enroll clinicians in the intensive training program, leaders sometimes made
poor decisions, sending problem employees on the verge of being fired, or staff close to
retirement.
One of the serious potential problems involves ensuring sufficient referrals of appropriate
cases for the trainees, a major problem that has disrupted other large-scale implementations
(Asmussen, Matthews, Weizel, Bebiroglu, & Scott, 2012). Although there may be enough
appropriate cases, referring clinicians have to be trained in the selection criteria and given
practice in pitching the program to parents. Parents are less than enthusiastic when told: We
have an experimental new program in which we treat parents instead of children to solve the
children's problems. We don't know if it works. Would you like to try it? Oh by the way, they
videotape everything.
It was the middle level stakeholders, the clinicians and their supervisors, who tended to
present the greatest resistance to the change. Some questions reflecting the common attitude
were raised in Michigan and in Norway: “What can a program from Oregon contribute to
the problems we're having in [name the place]?” “Where is Oregon anyway—is that near
California?” “Rewarding children for what they ought to do in the first place will weaken
their character.” “We don't like behaviorism; our children are not monkeys!” “If you can
measure it, it's not meaningful.” “Manualized programs are rigid.” “Norwegians don't
believe in punishment—in fact we have outlawed it in this country!” We had to reframe their
questions and apply the same principles that were effective in work with resistant parents.
Many professionals felt their skills were being called into question and some were
concerned they would have trouble learning the new techniques. Most were uncomfortable
having all their work video recorded and reviewed by others. Trainers created a supportive
and safe environment for learning and practicing the new skills with an emphasis on
recognizing the strengths already present in practitioners' repertoires. Teaching strategies
emphasized role play and problem solving that engaged the group in designing ways to
address the clinical and contextual issues in their community. Practitioners reported that they
found training procedures to be active and even fun.
Stage 3: Implementation
During the full implementation stage, community agencies provide the program to its
consumers, strengthen their infrastructure and the procedures needed to ensure effective
delivery, expand their reach and services, and evaluate both treatment outcomes and the
implementation itself (Chamberlain et al., 2008; Fixsen et al., 2005; Rogers, 1995). The
program developer supports these activities by continuing to provide technical assistance to
strengthen the expertise of community leaders and practitioners. By this stage, the
collaborative relationship should be strong enough for systems to mentor each other to
ensure that services can expand yet sustain model fidelity. Processes begun in Stage 2
continue, such as adapting the program to ensure acceptability, feasibility and suitability for
a given community. Evaluation activities emphasize process and outcome variables in terms
of both treatment and implementation.
During Stage 3, the separate roles of the two systems become more blended in their
functions. The challenge for this collaborating team is to negotiate the tension between
sustaining method fidelity and adjusting the program for specific demands. Each system
must maintain effective communication with the other and within its own levels of
operation. On the community side, it is important to strengthen infrastructure to maintain
and grow the program. On the program side, staff continue to deliver technical assistance to
help the community maintain motivation and commitment, improve skills, and support
problem solving efforts (Durlak & DuPre, 2008). Careful monitoring systems enable both
community and program provider to identify and troubleshoot barriers. Technology
facilitates every aspect of this phase of implementation.
Challenges and antidotes—Evaluating the success of an implementation is distinct

from assessing clinical treatment outcomes. One essential variable in the assessment of
implementation outcomes is “penetration,” which is defined as the integration of a practice
within a given system (Proctor, et al., 2011). Penetration is concerned with two questions:
Once clinicians are trained in an empirically supported intervention, do they actually apply it
with fidelity; and is the intervention widely available in the community? Unfortunately,
there are some dramatic examples of failure with respect to penetration. For example, a
recent study in the UK evaluated a large-scale program in which more than 3000
practitioners were trained in 10 evidence-based parent training programs (Asmussen, et al.,
2012). Although the practitioners gave the training program high ratings, only 42% of them
delivered even a single session of the intervention for which they were trained within the
next 6 months. What happened? The project report identified barriers that included the
following: lack of time; lack of confidence; lack of funding; change in jobs; too few trained
practitioners in the agency; lack of support from agency managers and supervisors, and
difficulty recruiting and retaining parents. Finally, funding priorities changed and resources
dried up.
These problems were not barriers for the Norwegian implementation. What contributed to
their success? In a recent report, several factors were identified:
(a) genuine interest and commitment at the political and administrative level for
national implementation of evidence-based programs, (b) increased interest among
practitioners for evidence-based practice, (c) establishing a self-sustaining national
center for implementation and research, (d) ability of the program developers to
support the Norwegian implementation and research efforts, and (e) positive
feedback from families and positive media coverage (Ogden et al., 2009, p. 590).
Some have said that Norway's success is easy to explain—they have an abundance of
resources and a well-developed social welfare system. If this is the answer, a financially
strapped state like Michigan would have little chance to carry out and sustain a successful
implementation. So far, however, Michigan is doing well. In 2013, there are 35 agencies
throughout the state with PMTO practitioners, representing 76% of the agencies serving
SED children in the state community mental health system. There are 83 certified PMTO
practitioners and 97 in training who provide services for families on an individual basis.
Parent groups are provided by 27 practitioners. Families are seen in community treatment
centers or in their homes, depending on local priorities.
During Stage 3, preparation begins for conducting the implementation in dependently. With
input from Michigan's department of community mental health and the program developer, a
document was produced describing the roles and responsibilities for all participating in the
Michigan PMTO system, including agencies, trainers, fidelity raters, coaches, clinicians,
consultants, regional coordinators, and the state coordinator (Gray, Rains, & Forgatch,
2009). This document, which required months of negotiation to produce, incorporated
lessons learned throughout the implementation and now serves as the template for other
implementations as they enter the stage of full transfer. Currently in Michigan, there are 20
trainers, 30 coaches, and 13 reliable fidelity raters.
How does this state with few financial resources maintain a continued commitment to carry
out this work? Looking at the contributors to success listed by the Norwegians, above, all
factors are true for the state of Michigan with the exception of the establishment of a self-
sustaining center for implementation and research. The commitment and enthusiasm of
leadership, practitioners, and families continues to build momentum. It is not only the well-
resourced who can follow this path.
Stage 4: Sustainability
During this phase, the community must integrate the program within its system, maintain
buy-in and support from stakeholders and solidify its infrastructure to grow the program
with increasing numbers of well-trained practitioners and satisfied consumers. The job for
the program developer's team is to continue to advise, troubleshoot, and support the
community's efforts. Evaluation becomes integral to operations to ensure that the program is
delivered with model fidelity and positive treatment outcomes and the transfer of expertise
continues. Fixsen and colleagues describe this phase as full operation, “with full staffing
complements, full client loads, and all of the realities of ‘doing business’” (Fixsen et al.,
2005, p. 16). According to Fixsen and colleagues, this level of implementation is seldom if
ever studied because full operation is rarely accomplished and most research for
psychosocial interventions takes place in the earlier phases. Rogers refers to this as the
confirmation or routinizing phase, which involves integrating the program into standard
practice. Activities include establishing a well-articulated infrastructure within the
community to support the continuing practice with fidelity, and the training, coaching, and
certification of new practitioners. Assessment of fidelity and treatment outcomes continues.
Team work between the two systems facilitates the transfer of the program to community
responsibility. In Rogers' framework, the program becomes an ongoing element in the
organization and “loses its identity” (Rogers, 1995, p. 392).
The program system—Training, retraining, and extending reach to new populations is a

never ending struggle. However, when training and evaluation is transferred into the hands
of the community, it is possible to provide the necessary infrastructure to regenerate staffing
and procedures within the adopting system. PMTO implementations are designed for full
transfer to the community, a dimension appreciated by the Norway, Michigan and Kansas
implementing communities. The program team trains a progenitor group in the community,
who are then trained to carry the program forward to future generations. To provide long-
term support and practice throughout the site, the community establishes an effective
infrastructure. This approach involves more than training-the-trainer. The community
gradually assumes full responsibility for all activities involved in practice: training,
coaching, certification, and continuous monitoring of fidelity and outcomes (Forgatch &
DeGarmo, 2011).
The full transfer approach begs the question: can fidelity be sustained after the program
developer's team with draws? This question was addressed with data from two nationwide
PMTO implementations: Norway and Iceland. Fidelity scores (assessed by FIMP) at
certification for practitioners trained by the program team were compared with scores for
those trained by community trainers. In each instance, FIMP scores were provided by
reliable raters for three generations. Generation 1 (G1) was trained by the program
developer; Generation 2 (G2) was trained by selected certified G1 PMTO Specialists; and
Generation 3 (G3) was trained by G1 and G2 trainers. The hypothesis was that fidelity
would decrease with each generation.
In Norway, a small yet significant decline in fidelity did indeed follow the transfer to local
trainers in G2. However, G3 scores were equivalent to those attained by G1. Thus, the
hypothesis was not fully supported (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2011). Fidelity recovered by G3.
These Norwegian findings were replicated in Iceland. Again, there was a small but
significant decline in fidelity at certification following the transfer of training to local
trainers in G2, but the G3 trainees attained scores equivalent to those for G1 (Sigmarsdóttir
& Guðmundsdóttir, 2012). In Iceland as in Norway, there was recovery by G3.
The temporary slippage in certification scores with recovery was replicated in two studies.
What this means remains a mystery. In each case, the investigators speculated that training
may have faltered as the local team developed the additional skills required to lead
workshops and conduct regular coaching sessions with clinicians. In each case, the materials
and procedures had to be translated and adapted for the trainers, practitioners, and parents.
By the third generation, this process was complete, and the material had been assimilated by
the trainers. In recent implementations, the PMTO program purveyors provide specific
training and support as the G1 trainers begin the process of training new generations.
The data from these two nationwide implementations indicate that PMTO can be transferred
successfully with sustained fidelity and cross-cultural generalization. A next question asks
whether community practice will produce the same positive outcomes attained within
effectiveness trials. This question has been examined in randomized controlled trials in
Norway and in Iceland and is underway in The Netherlands. In each country, community
practitioners from G1, G2, and G3 provided treatment to families in service agencies
throughout their respective countries and compared results with families randomly assigned
to receive services as usual. Multiple-method assessment and intent-to-treat analysis tested
change in pre/post child outcomes. Findings for families receiving PMTO were significantly
superior to those for families receiving services as usual (Ogden & Amlund Hagen, 2008;
Sigmarsdóttir, Thorlacius, Guðmundsdóttir, DeGarmo, & Forgatch, in press).
PMTO implementations have harnessed the power of strong collaborations between the
ivory tower where programs are developed and adoption communities. In every case, the
implementation has been driven by key leaders in the communities, with attention paid to
increasing consensus from front-line workers, management, and families. While the
developers held tight to the program's core principles and observational methodology, the
community modified the program's topography, created and maintained the organizational
infrastructures necessary for implementation, and designed the policy and procedural
elements required for successful delivery (Sigmarsdóttir & Guðmundsdóttir, 2012). The
result can lead to empirically supported programs that are deployed with success in the
community, using methods (e.g., videotaping of sessions and fidelity assessment based on
observation) that some have claimed are unlikely to be established in routine community
practice.
Technology is Key to Widespread Implementation with Fidelity

Technology has revolutionized communication and made direct observation possible for
routine clinical practice. In 1988, use of the internet was difficult and accessed by few; in
2013, seven-year-old children skillfully navigate the internet and over 80% of U.S.
households have internet access (Morales, 2013). This technological leap has advanced
efforts to span the chasm from efficacy to large-scale implementation, providing support for
communication, monitoring, training, coaching, certification, and fidelity. In these last 25
years, our implementation toolkit for parent training programs has expanded to contain: an
extensive portfolio with effective parent training programs; standardized measures of

treatment outcomes and method fidelity; efficient websites, sophisticated software programs,
and centralized databases (Glasgow, Lichtenstein, & Marcus, 2003; Kazdin, 2008; Kazdin &
Blase, 2011; McHugh et al., 2009). The combinations and permutations with which these
tools can be applied are limitless.
Fidelity Uses Technology—A common excuse for scrimping on rigorous assessment of

fidelity is that it is too costly/effortful/impractical (Perepletchikova et al., 2007, Proctor et
al., 2009). PMTO implementations require regular assessment of fidelity using the FIMP
measure within and across sites to prevent drift in PMTO practice and in the reliability of
the assessment. To synchronize this level of performance, a secure database was established
to be used by all PMTO sites with the goal of sustained competent adherence to the method
based on direct observation. Each site establishes a FIMP team leader who conducts
training, retraining, and regular reliability checks of their raters. FIMP leaders from around
the world upload, view, and score videos of intervention sessions with members of their own
teams using FIMP Central, a secure website whose purpose is to monitor practice and
prevent drift. An orchestra conductor can use a tuning fork to ensure that the instruments are
in tune with each other. Similarly, the centralized PMTO website is used to tune fidelity to
the model throughout and across implementation sites. Are all the practitioners playing in
the same key and with a reasonable level of competence?
Given advances in technology, we are able to address a number of implementation questions

in the second decade of the new millennium.
• Does fidelity predict process and outcomes as expected?
• Can fidelity be scored reliably by raters of differing cultures?
• Are trainees completing training requirements?
• Are trainees ready to apply for certification?
• Are coaches/supervisors performing at maximal levels?
• Do practitioners continue to perform at certification levels during regular practice?
• Within or across cohorts, is there fidelity decay?
• Are fidelity standards at certification and during practice maintained across
implementations/settings/cultures?
Technology, Implementation, and the Next 25 Years—Large-scale implementations

have quietly waited in the wings for solutions to the complex problems of moving
empirically supported interventions from well-controlled settings into the community.

Technological progress has enabled the worldwide web and its tools to support this effort.
Computing programs promote effective systems for data management, data storage and
retrieval, data reduction, and data analysis. Investigators now have tools to record and
monitor detailed information, such as completion of training activities, engagement in
practice, and competent adherence to treatment models. HIPAA-approved secure web-based
systems support video streaming and allow program participants to record activities during
training and following program installation. All that is required is access to computer
hardware and related technology, high-speed internet connections and an effective database
that connects activities and participants across time, distance and culture. Information stored
on the database can include current case and session information for each trainee, video/
audio recordings of intervention sessions, assessment information, and all other relevant
data. The information, which is securely stored, can be accessed with proper credentials.
PMTO implementations employ this approach in several countries (e.g., Iceland, The
Netherlands, Denmark, and Mexico) and several locations within the United States (e.g.,
Michigan, New York City, Minnesota, and Kansas). They are part of the ongoing process of
implementation and can be applied to study public health programs. These are not someday
developments; they are here and now.
Technology may be a necessary but insufficient requirement for successful widespread

implementation, however. Little knowledge exists regarding the strategies for partnerships
between researchers/developers and community service settings that promote successful
practice of parent training empirically supported interventions. What policy changes are
required in order to successfully install an empirically supported intervention? What
protocol and procedural changes are required to make delivery routine across multiple
clinics and other service entities within a given jurisdiction? When the service system breaks
down, or sustainability is set back by changes in policy, how can we continue to monitor the
processes and outcomes of our efforts?
Conclusions
Our approach to service provision is too limited in scope. We must pool our information
about the lessons learned from the evolution of parent training programs in small-scale
research to large-scale implementation. There's an elephant in the room. The elephant
represents the pressing need to make effective programs available to every family in need.
Each developer has approached a different facet of the elephant and is diligently working to
solve this puzzle. Can we combine the puzzle pieces, capture the key components, and build
a complete picture? Can we create an environment of collaboration, rather than continuing
our policy of setting up competitions? When we reach the point on the horizon where
efficacy and implementation merge, we may be able to achieve a public health approach to
reducing the prevalence of children's behavior problems with the empirically supported
interventions already developed but too seldom applied in community settings. We have
completed the horse race epoch in which we established programs as evidence-based
through careful assessment, sophisticated modeling, and replicated randomized controlled
trials. In the 21st century, we must learn how to create science-based delivery systems that
reach families in need – everywhere.
Acknowledgments
The projects described were supported in part by Award Numbers R01DA16097 and 1R01DA030114 from the
Prevention Research Branch, NIDA, U.S. PHS, and SAMHSA Grant #SM56177. The content is solely the
responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, the National Institutes of Health or SAMHSA. Marion Forgatch is Executive Director of and employed by
ISII, which provided services in support of this project. Abigail Gewirtz is a consultant to ISII.
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Figure 1. A dynamic implementation process


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Perspect Psychol Sci. 2013 November ; 8(6): 682–694. doi:10.1177/1745691613503478.

Looking Forward: The Promise of Widespread Implementation of

In Figure 1, we present a two-system four-stage model for the installation of a psychosocial

Implementing an Empirically Supported Intervention: A Case Study with

We employ three examples to illustrate the process of implementing PMTO. One is a

The community system—Wide-scale change requires strong leadership. To undertake

Forgatch, Askeland, Patterson, & Bullock, 2005).

The program system—For an intervention to achieve status as empirically supported and

A unique aspect of PMTO relative to other parent training programs is an emphasis on

components: Positive reinforcement to promote prosocial behavior, effective limit setting to

reduction in deviant peer association. These benefits to the hypothesized mechanisms of

For an intervention to be suitable for wide-scale implementation, it must be generalizable

Stage 2: Early Adoption

fail to make it beyond this point (Fixsen et al, 2005).

Training: The PMTO training program, which requires approximately 12 to 18 months, is

Competent adherence to PMTO is assessed with the Fidelity of Implementation Rating

Implementation outcomes: An effective training program must produce community

The community system—The community supports the early adoption phase of

Challenges and solutions during early adoption—Things can go wrong at any

Challenges and antidotes—Evaluating the success of an implementation is distinct

The program system—Training, retraining, and extending reach to new populations is a

Technology is Key to Widespread Implementation with Fidelity

extensive portfolio with effective parent training programs; standardized measures of

Fidelity Uses Technology—A common excuse for scrimping on rigorous assessment of

Given advances in technology, we are able to address a number of implementation questions

Technology, Implementation, and the Next 25 Years—Large-scale implementations

empirically supported interventions from well-controlled settings into the community.

developments; they are here and now.

Technology may be a necessary but insufficient requirement for successful widespread

Practice. 2009; 19:582–591.10.1177/1049731509335530

for implementation research: Conceptual distinctions, measurement challenges, and research

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Figure 1. A dynamic implementation process

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