Cost-effectiveness of Intervention Implementation Support for Reducing Eating Disorder Symptoms Among College Students

AbstractImplementation support for prevention interventions is receiving increased attention, as many organizations receive training in evidence-based practices but do not deliver the interventions optimally. TheBody Project, a four-session program, significantly reduces eating disorder symptoms and future disorder onset among group participants when delivered by peer educators at colleges/universities. Costs and cost-effectiveness of the program were examined using data from a randomized trial that compared three levels of implementation support at 63 colleges: (1) a train-the-trainer (TTT) workshop alone, (2) TTT plus a technical assistance (TA) workshop, or (3) TTT plus TA plus monthly quality assurance (QA) consultations. Effectiveness was measured by the production of reliable change in eating disorder symptoms from pretest to posttest. Costs and cost-effectiveness of two levels of implementation support are reported, comparing TTT-only with TTT  + TA + QA (effectiveness of the TTT + TA condition did not differ from TTT-only) and using results from an earlier study as a proxy for a no-treatment control. Two perspectives are considered: a sponsoring organization providing the training at multiple sites and a college delivering th e intervention to its eligible students. From the perspective of a sponsoring organization, adding both the TA training and QA support improves the cost-effectiveness per eligible student receiving the intervention. From the perspecti...
Source: Prevention Science - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research