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About the Butler Center for Research

A group of business people sit in a row in a training class. They look at an unseen speaker as they concentrate on his lecture

What is the Butler Center for Research?

Through clinical and institutional research, scientists and other staff members at the Butler Center for Research ask the questions that lead to increasingly effective methods of addressing addiction, from prevention to treatment to lifelong recovery.

As the field of substance abuse treatment shifts more focus toward the importance of patient outcomes and evidence-based practices, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation relies on our very own Butler Center for Research to ensure our treatment programs are data-driven and effective.

Additionally, the Butler Center for Research engages in research studies that drive the field of addiction treatment forward. These studies identify possible trends and patterns that may contribute to future best practices for clinical professionals both within and external to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

The presence of an internal scientific research department is something that is very unique to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, and the critical role of the Butler Center for Research critical often generates questions:

  • What is the Butler Center for Research?
  • What kind of research is conducted?
  • Who leads the research efforts?
Few addiction treatment providers have the resources and infrastructure required to keep up-to-date with scientific literature

Butler Center for Research History

In 1974, Hazelden (later the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation) created the Continuation Center, a hub for research, literature, and administration located on our Center City, Minnesota campus. The Continuation Center was renamed the Butler Center for Research in 1977, with the vision of supporting sustained recovery from the disease of addiction for all who seek help by way of advancements in knowledge and integration of research of addiction treatment into practice.

Since its inception, the Butler Center for Research has been dedicated to improving recovery by:

  • Conducting clinical and institutional research
  • Collaborating with other research centers
  • Communicating scientific findings both internally and publicly

The Butler Center for Research is extremely unique. Few addiction treatment providers have the internal resources and infrastructure required to not only keep up-to-date with current scientific literature, but also to:

  • Conduct scientific research
  • Manage institutional data operations
  • Assess patient treatment outcomes
  • Report relevant scientific information (and recommendations for implementation) to clinical staff

What does the Butler Center for Research do?

The Butler Center for Research supports the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the greater recovery community through a number of projects, roles, and services.

Scientific Research
Perhaps the most critical role of the Butler Center for Research is to conduct ongoing scientific research that can be used to not only continuously improve the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation clinical services and programs but also to inform the field of addiction and recovery as a whole.

This research is completed through numerous projects that are designed and implemented by Butler Center for Research staff and collaborators. Findings are reported in scientific journals and institutional reports throughout the year.

In 2019, the Butler Center for Research and its collaborators have published one scientific article:

  • Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder within a 12-step based treatment center: Feasibility and initial results1

The Butler Center for Research has also published several advanced statistical internal reports for Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation program leaders, offering advanced insight into data trends and providing empirical recommendations for ongoing program improvement and effectiveness.

Data-Driven Decisions
In addition to more advanced scientific reports on Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation programs, the Butler Center for Research evaluates and interprets program metrics in an attempt to assist leadership with data-driven decisions.

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Patient Outcomes
An important focus of our work at the Butler Center for Research is to collect, review and analyze patient outcomes for select Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation programs. We administer outcomes surveys to patients 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after discharge.

Outcomes cover a broad array of topics, including:

  • Continued care
  • Abstinence from alcohol and drugs
  • Medication compliance
  • Quality of life.

These outcomes are used to evaluate the effectiveness of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's programs and assess data patterns to see if certain programs or services benefit people in different ways.

Currently, the Butler Center for Research tracks patient outcomes for those who discharge from our Center City, Minnesota and Rancho Mirage, California inpatient programs.

References

1Klein, A.A., Seppala, M.D. (2019). Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder within a 12-step based treatment center: Feasibility and initial results. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 104,51-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2019.06.009

Executive Director, Butler Center for Research

Quyen Ngo, PhD

Dr. Quyen Ngo leads research activities at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation as the executive director of the Butler Center for Research. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology and women's studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she also completed a post-doctoral research fellowship. Over the past eight years, Dr. Ngo has conducted grant-funded research on the role of substance use in intimate partner violence and technology-enhanced brief interventions for substance use disorders.

Quyen Ngo

Librarian

Ann Geht

Ann Geht, MLIS, is the librarian for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. She manages the Hazelden Betty Ford Addiction Research Library and the Hazelden Pittman American Alcoholism Archives. Ann is a member of the international association SALIS: Substance Abuse Librarians & Information Specialists, as well as the Health Science Libraries of Minnesota (HSLM), and the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange (CMLE). She has worked as a professional librarian in academic and public libraries for over fifteen years and specializes in social sciences and psychological research.

Ann Geht
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