Perceptions of Child–Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) Training Usefulness for Educational, Behavioral, and Allied Health Professionals: Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practices

Child-Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) is an evidence-informed approach to promote positive child-adult relationships in youth with behavior problems or traumatic stress. Implementing CARE in community settings may extend accessibility to evidence-based practices (EBP) for children in underserved areas. The present study examined health professionals' perceptions of CARE. Participants were 277 professionals from a statewide training initiative including early childhood educators (n = 178), allied health professionals (n = 48; speech, occupational, physical therapists), and behavioral health clinicians (n = 51) completing CARE training. Participants completed the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (Aarons (2004) Mental Health Services Research 6:61-74) (pre-training). Post-training, participants completed two scales created for this study which assessed participants perceptions of the training experience. Structural equation modeling evaluated differences in health professionals' perceptions of CARE and EBP. CARE was the most well received by allied health professionals, who reported greater favorability of EBP relative to behavioral health clinicians (0.12, 95% CI [.04, .24]). Additionally, results indicated greater favorability of EBP-mediated perceived usefulness (0.17, 95% CI [.07, .31]). CARE is a well-received training for professionals working with youth. Interprofessional training may enhance developmental and behavioral outcomes for youth, and our findings suggest particular receptivity to CARE by allied health professionals and implicate EBP favorability as a key driver.