Researchers
- Ms Melanie Simpson, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales
- Dr Peter Lawrinson, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales
- Professor Jan Copeland, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales
- Mr Peter Gates, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales
Summary
The aim of this project was to develop and test a suitable standard tool ‘the Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure’ (AATOM) to measure the outcome of alcohol treatment to serve the needs of health professionals and their clients, policy makers, funding bodies, and the research community.
Designed for use by researchers and clinicians, AATOM allows meaningful treatment comparisons to be made and easier interpretation of results from diverse outcome studies, leading to improvements in the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of research.
The project developed and tested three draft AATOM instruments: AATOM-C, Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure for Clinicians; AATOM-R, Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure for Researchers, developed for use by the research community and is considerably more detailed than the AATOM-C; and E-AATOM, an electronic version of the Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure.
Outcomes
The results of the study demonstrated that the AATOM-C is, overall, a valid and reliable instrument, taking an average of 11 minutes to administer. It has the potential to be a very useful clinical tool for those working within the alcohol treatment field. It can assist with treatment planning and tracking of client progress throughout the course of treatment and after treatment completion.
The AATOM instruments and book are published by, and available for purchase from NDARC.
References
Simpson, M, Lawrinson, P, Copeland, J & Gates, P 2009 The Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure (ATOM): A new clinical tool for standardising outcome measurement for alcohol treatment. Addictive Behaviours, 34(1): 121-124.
Simpson, M, Lawrinson, P, Copeland, J & Gates, P 2007 The Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure (AATOM-C): Psychometric properties. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.
Simpson, M, Copeland, J & Lawrinson, P 2008 The Australian Alcohol Treatment Measure (AATOM-C): Findings of the 12-month feasibility study. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.
Thomson, N, Devaney, M, Simpson, M, Talko, T, Pahoki, S, & Ritter, A 2008 The Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure (AATOM-R): Psychometric Properties, Melbourne: Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.
Gates, P 2006 The Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure d0 for Clinicians (AATOM-C). Meeting New Challenges: APSAD Conference. Cairns, 5-8 November.
Simpson, M, & Copeland, J 2008 The Australian Alcohol Treatment Outcome Measure for Clinicians (AATOM-C): psychometric properties and field testing, Australian Winter School, Brisbane, 12-14th May.
