User-Centered Redesign of Evidence-Based Psychosocial Interventions to Enhance Implementation—Hospitable Soil or Better Seeds?

After decades of research and policy initiatives, the advice to use evidence-based practices has become a mantra for improving clinical care. In behavioral health, most evidence-based practices are psychosocial interventions: interpersonal or informational strategies to reduce symptoms and improve functioning. Hundreds of evidence-based psychosocial interventions now exist, and research shows that their use in real-world systems can confer demonstrable effects on community-level outcomes.¹ Nevertheless, research also indicates that these interventions are used infrequently and inconsistently and that most efforts to implement them are unsuccessful,² dramatically limiting their potential for promoting well-being.