Service Provider Attitudes toward Evidence-Based Programs in an Australian Place-Based Initiative: Examining Organisational Roles and Evidence-Supportive Environments

Positive service provider attitudes toward evidence-based programs, and evidence-supportive organizational environments are essential for effective implementation in community settings. Few studies have examined whether there are differences in attitudes between managers and providers. This study investigates attitudes toward evidence-based programs across three levels of manager and provider roles in an Australian place-based initiative for children delivered by a heterogenous, multiskilled social services workforce, and investigates whether attitudes are influenced by an evidence-supportive organizational environment. An online survey was conducted between 2018 and 2019, yielding 205 participants: 70 Facilitating Partner managers, 93 Community Partner managers, and 42 direct service providers. Nine attitudes toward evidence-based programs were assessed using multiple linear regression, with an evidence-supportive organizational environment included as a moderating variable. Differences in attitudes were found between the three roles, with direct service providers more likely to be supportive of evidence-based programs compared to Facilitating Partner managers. An evidence-supportive environment was a strong predictor of more positive attitudes, and moderated the effects for Facilitating Partner managers for three measures. This study highlights the importance of positive leadership and supportive organizational environments in social services community settings. Future studies could examine associations between attitudes, organizational environment and effective implementation for this workforce.