Assessment of Treatment Integrity in School Consultation and Prereferral Intervention

TLDR

The literature on consultation and prereferral interventions has largely ignored treatment integrity, defined as the degree to which a treatment is implemented as planned. The article outlines treatment integrity in consultation/prereferral interventions, presents practical assessment and facilitation approaches, and proposes future research to develop a technology of treatment integrity. The authors discuss factors influencing treatment integrity and detail technical issues in assessing it, offering practical approaches for assessment and facilitation.

Abstract

The consultation and prereferral intervention literature has ignored a fundamental aspect of behavior change: treatment integrity. Integrity of treatment refers to the degree to which a treatment is implemented as planned. This article describes treatment integrity as it relates to the design, implementation, and monitoring of consultation/prereferral intervention plans. Factors related to treatment integrity are discussed and technical issues in assessing the integrity of treatments are detailed. Practical approaches are presented to the assessment and facilitation of treatment integrity. Future research directions are outlined as initial steps toward developing a technology of treatment integrity.