ADULT SCIENCE EDUCATION--BRIDGING THE GAP

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There is a serious information gap between science-educators performing alcohol abuse and dependency research and the adult general public. In this project we propose to develop a Texas Alcohol Education Partnership (TEAP) involving University of Texas faculty. state and national audience partners, a corporate partner, and a training partner. There are three target populations: the primary population will be those paid and unpaid counselors, degreed and/or experienced individuals ("clinicians") working in alcohol dependency treatment. These individuals require continuing education to maintain certification. The second population ("reachable public") will be those who are most impacted by alcohol abuse, alcohol dependency, and mental diseases: victims, victims' families, victims' employers, and individuals in organizations which must be aware of or deal with the consequences of these disorders (clergy, public housing, criminal justice, probation, social workers, etc.). The third population will be physicians and researchers ("scientists") working in alcohol research laboratories around the country. Instructional methods will include: lecture-style forums; dynamic, interactive symposia with a multimedia presentation format; experiential workshops in which audiences participate in video and interactive computer demonstrations; abbreviated videotape versions of the symposia and workshops, for distribution to wider audiences; and interactive computer-based programs which cover material presented in the symposia and workshops. The effectiveness of information exchange and utilization will be evaluated by pre-program and post-program questionnaires of knowledge transfer and diffusion. Attitude and behavioral instruments designed by an evaluation specialist and analyzed by a measurement specialist are key outcome tools to determine effectiveness of the project. A modular alcoholism education and evaluation program will be developed and piloted on the World Wide Web. Two innovative aspects of the TEAP will be l) an emphasis on empowering "clinicians" to teach others about new research findings (for example, chemical dependency counselors are educators of victims' families and others, since education is an important part of recovery), and 2) the training of laboratory scientists in public education and media presentation skills, through specialized workshops in NIAAA-funded research centers around the nation. In addition, graduate students in various disciplines at the University will be trained in alcohol dependence education and communication skills for talking to lay audiences. These aspects provide powerful education networking and self- replication of important skills. The TEAP will focus first on forum audiences around the nation, then on other projects in Texas and surrounding states, except for the training of scientists (in NIAAA-funded Centers) on media skills and lay-language presentations. Thus the University-based partnership will impact the public on neuroscience, alcohol abuse, addiction and mental disease information, yet have the ability to replicate its strengths through the training of scientists in other states.