Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .
Abstinence reinforcement maintenance contingency and one-year follow-up.
BACKGROUND Relapse to drug use is often seen when contingencies design ed to reduce drug use are discontinued . This paper reports on a stepdown maintenance contingency and 1-year follow-up in 110 patients who were maintained on methadone ( 50 or 70 mg/day ) and who had completed a contingency management trial targeted to decreasing their opiate use . In the prior study ( induction phase , 8 weeks ) participants received vouchers for each opiate-negative urine screen or noncontingently . METHODS In this study ( maintenance phase , 12 weeks ) , participants were rer and omized to receive vouchers and take-home methadone doses contingent on providing opiate-negative urine specimens ( N=55 ) or noncontingently ( N=55 ) . Since participants had been rer and omized from induction-phase contingencies , most study data were analyzed as if from a 2 x 2 ( inductionxmaintenance ) design . Follow-up interviews were conducted at 3 , 6 , and 12 months after study participation . RESULTS Patients who received the maintenance contingency following an 8-week induction contingency had better outcomes than those who received noncontingent incentives in either the maintenance or induction phases of the trial . Good outcome at follow-up was predicted by enrollment in methadone maintenance after the study . Significantly more participants in the maintenance contingency group transferred directly to another methadone program . CONCLUSION These findings support the therapeutic value of extending the duration of contingency management and long-term methadone maintenance
Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .