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This chapter reviews the research on the effects of social support and social control on health behavior in intimate relationships. The authors apply the transtheoretical model of change to account for variability in outcomes of support and control attempts. That is, the effectiveness of support and control attempts may be due, at least in part, to the accuracy with which the partner perceives the target spouse’s readiness to change and the extent to which the partner uses strategies consistent with the partner’s current stage of change. Exploratory quantitative and qualitative research is presented to support the proposed model.

Chapter three presents a “ readiness to change” framework that administrators, faculty, interested students and community partners may use to assess a department or school’s current research climate, culture, capacity, resources and motivation, and its readiness to promote a research climate and culture in order for faculty and students to become productive researchers. The framework can be used to help schools assess where their department or school of social work is, as compared to others, on a continuum of research climate and culture, intensity, and readiness to implement research. The authors report findings from surveys and interviews with faculty and staff throughout the country to assess their research capacity and they provide examples of models of infrastructure development in schools and departments of social work and action steps that can be taken from either an institutional or faculty perspective.

This chapter examines the systemic issues of implementing evidence-based practice in schools. The organizational change process provides insights into the cornerstones of change, the different types of implementation, and the different stages of implementation. There are four barriers to implementation. The first impediment is a lack of time. Three strategies include release time, use of interns, and focusing on prevention first. The second barrier is a lack of relevant information. Two solutions are increasing the relevancy of research for real world settings and improving practitioners' access to research. The third obstacle was the lack of technology skills and researcher-practitioner partnerships were suggested. The final roadblock was institutional issues. Four solutions include aligning the change to the school's vision, a qualitative focus on process issues encountered during dissemination, more attention to contextual influences in outcome evaluation, and more recognition of school staff that employ evidence-based practice.