“Quick Access” Tools for Treatment Improvement Protocols
By Riggin Waugh
For busy substance abuse treatment providers, counselors,
and other professionals who use SAMHSA’s Treatment
Improvement Protocols (TIPs), SAMHSA offers “quick
access” reference tools—KAP Keys and Quick
Guides. Compact and easy to use, these tools are helpful
supplements to specific TIPs.
Developed by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment (CSAT) through its Knowledge Application Program
(KAP), TIPs are best-practice guidelines for the treatment
of substance abuse. Corresponding Quick Guides and KAP
Keys offer useful shortcuts to navigate the 200-plus
pages of an average TIP.
CSAT’s Division of Services Improvement draws
on the experience and knowledge of clinical, research,
and administrative experts to produce publications in
the TIP series. Currently, there are approximately 45
TIPs available on SAMHSA’s KAP Web site, and most
of these TIPs have accompanying Quick Guides and KAP
Keys. They include concise evidence-based information
that corresponds to the page numbers and chapters in
a specific TIP.
Most TIPs usually focus on a single topic such as medication-assisted
treatment (MAT), co-occurring disorders, or screening.
For example, TIP
43—Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid
Addiction in Opioid Treatment Programs—presents
current information about opioid use disorders and treatment
options.
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KAP Keys
KAP
Keys are handy, durable tools that contain assessment
or screening instruments, checklists, summaries of treatment
phases, lists of “red flags,” and other information
from the source TIP. KAP Keys provide information in
short tables or bulleted lists to encourage easy access
to specific facts about treatment services.
Printed on coated card stock, KAP Keys are looped together
by a metal ring that can be opened as needed.
A set of KAP Keys can be kept within reach in almost
any clinical setting to allow providers to reference
information easily and ensure accuracy.
In the case of TIP
43, the KAP Keys address topics including assessments
for MAT, information obtained about and provided to patients
during screening and admission, medications or substances
that alter opioid medication levels in the body, and
characteristics of a treatment plan and a multidisciplinary
team.
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Quick Guides
In a pocket-sized format, Quick Guides are divided into
sections to help clinicians or administrators locate
relevant material conveniently. For most TIPs, there
is a companion Quick
Guide for Clinicians and a Quick
Guide for Administrators.
For example, the Quick
Guide for Clinicians Based on TIP 43 is divided into
13 sections to help readers locate specific information
including basic MAT principles, regulatory requirements,
and evidence-based best practices in opioid treatment
programs.
TIP 43’s Quick Guide includes coverage of screening,
admission, assessment, phases of treatment, patient retention,
drug testing, and treatment planning for patients with
special needs.
Other KAP products include screening tools, periodicals,
treatment manuals, and consumer brochures, as well as
the TIP series. To date, SAMHSA has disseminated more
than 4 million KAP products since the launch of the program
in 1999.
To obtain free copies of TIPs, Quick Guides, and KAP
Keys, contact SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for
Alcohol and Drug Information at 1 (800) 729-6686 (English
and Spanish) or 1 (800) 487-4889 (TDD).
Online, TIPS, Quick Guides, and KAP Keys are available
from SAMHSA’s KAP Web site at www.kap.samhsa.gov.
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