Efficacy and comparative effectiveness of telephone and smartphone remote continuing care interventions for alcohol use disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aims: Management of alcohol use disorder (AUD) could be enhanced by effective remote treatments. This study tested whether supplementing intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) with continuing care delivered via (1) telephone, (2) smartphone or (3) their combination improves outcomes relative to (4) IOP only. Continuing care conditions were also compared.

The predictive validity of the progress assessment, a clinician administered instrument for use in measurement-based care for substance use disorders.

We tested the predictive validity of the Progress Assessment (PA), a brief counselor administered tool for use in measurement-based care for substance use disorders. The PA includes 5 items assessing relapse risk and 5 items assessing factors protective against relapse. Data were drawn from a completed study of continuing care for cocaine dependence (McKay et al.

Challenges to Practicing HIV Sex-Risk Prevention Among People in Continuing Care for Cocaine Addiction.

Background: Intimate partnerships are discouraged during early recovery, despite research that highlights their capacity to be resources for change.

Objective: This study seeks to provide descriptions of intimate partnerships and how such partnerships challenge and/or support minimizing HIV sex-risk among participants in continuing care for cocaine addiction in order to inform substance use programming.

Methods: Forty-two recorded continuing care counseling sessions of 33 people who discussed HIV sex-risk behavior were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Treatment choices and subsequent attendance by substance-dependent patients who disengage from intensive outpatient treatment.

In an effort to increase engagement in effective treatment, we offered a choice of alternate evidence-based treatments to 137 alcohol- or cocaine-dependent adults (110 males, 27 females) who entered an intensive outpatient program (IOP) but disengaged within the first 8 weeks. We hypothesized that disengaged patients would choose and subsequently attend alternatives to IOP when given the chance, that their choices would be consistent with their previously-stated preferences, and that demographic and clinical characteristics would be predictive of alternatives chosen. Of 96 participants reached by phone, 19% chose no treatment; 49% chose to return to IOP; 24% chose individual psychotherapy; 6% chose telephone counseling; 2% chose naltrexone with medication management.

Voucher incentives increase treatment participation in telephone-based continuing care for cocaine dependence.

Background: Telephone-based monitoring is a promising approach to continuing care of substance use disorders, but patients often do not engage or participate enough to benefit. Voucher incentives can increase retention in outpatient treatment and continuing care, but may be less effective when reinforcement is delayed, as in telephone-based care. We compared treatment utilization rates among cocaine-dependent patients enrolled in telephone continuing care with and without voucher incentives to determine whether incentives increase participation in telephone-based care.