We can help: Changing the drug treatment organization's collective efficacy to support patients' hepatitis C virus (HCV) needs through an on-site staff training

Drug treatment programs are well situated to provide and support the use of hepatitis C virus (HCV) education and testing services for their patients, and to assist those already infected in dealing with the virus. However, staff's limited knowledge about HCV and their discomfort in sharing HCV information with patients sometimes limits this organizational support. We examined changes in drug treatment program staff's (N=139) perceptions of their organization's collective efficacy to help patients deal with HCV issues after receiving a 6-hour HCV training. Staff in 5 participating (intervention) programs throughout the US received the NIDA-funded, “STOP Hep C” training at baseline; staff in 5 other US programs served as a control group and received the training after data collection was completed. Collective organizational efficacy in supporting patients' HCV needs, especially through effective communication, was measured using a highly reliable (alpha>.9), 7-item, 11-point Likert scale. Items assessed staff's collective ability to discuss HCV with both HCV+ and HCV- patients, answer their questions, and address patients' possible denial and ambivalence in dealing with HCV. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine change in collective efficacy over time (from baseline to 1- and 3-months post-baseline). Results indicate that staff in the intervention programs increased significantly (p<.001) in their perceptions of collective organizational efficacy, but no such change was observed in the control programs (p>.3). Results support the value of an on-site drug treatment program staff training as an effective means to improve organizational efficacy in addressing patients' critical health needs.