Gabriela Novotna (University of Regina, SPHERU) in collaboration with Darren Christensen, PhD (University of Lethbridge) has coordinated this interprovincial project in which they explored the implications of administrative and clinical integration of mental health and addiction treatment services for problem gambling treatment in three provinces – Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. The proposed study represents a pioneering effort in using institutional theory to advance our insight into the mechanism of dissemination of organizational policies and practices. Moreover, it has strong potential to answer the question why and how some concepts or practices enter new organizational fields and cause change, while others are never adapted (“translated”), or have difficulty to succeed in being implemented in practice. The project is supported by Alberta Gambling Research Institute [AGRI]. The study’s “realistic treatment of service providers/ organizations” will inform the practical discussions of managers, policy makers and academics about the potential of individuals and groups to shape organizational fields. Ultimately, these discussions will shed light on the mechanisms of institutional change in the studied integration-related efforts.
Time period: May 2016-April 2020
Funder: Alberta Gambling Research Institute