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 .
Initial abstinence and success in achieving longer term cocaine abstinence.
This study 's goals were to characterize the relationship between early and longer term cocaine abstinence and assess whether increasing early abstinence increases longer term abstinence . Results from 190 cocaine-dependent out patients were analyzed . Participants were divided into 2 conditions : ( a ) those treated with community reinforcement approach ( CRA ) plus contingent vouchers ( n = 125 ) and ( b ) those treated with control treatments ( n = 65 ) . A period of sustained abstinence during treatment was associated with significantly greater odds of posttreatment abstinence , with no evidence of differences between the 2 treatment conditions in that regard . Treatment conditions differed in that CRA plus contingent vouchers increased the proportion of participants who sustained a period of during-treatment abstinence and increased abstinence during 6-month posttreatment follow-up . Devising interventions that increase the proportion of individuals who achieve an early period of sustained abstinence may be key to increasing longer term cocaine abstinence
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 .