Four Models of Telephone Support for Stimulant Recovery
Condition: Drug Addiction
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The overall objective of this research is to develop and refine empirically supported
      continuing care interventions that promote healthy behavior and sustained abstinence from
      illicit drug use.
    

Detailed description: 
      For treatment interventions to provide the desired result of long term abstinence, it is
      important to develop strategies to enhance the effectiveness of continued care approaches. We
      plan to conduct a prospective, randomized comparison of four models of counselor-provided
      telephone support as strategies to promote patient aftercare attendance and sustained
      abstinence from stimulant use. To this end, we will develop and compare the efficacy of four
      low-cost telephone support protocols for patients who have completed the intensive phase of a
      structured, outpatient stimulant abuse treatment program. Some 500 participants completing a
      4-month Matrix Outpatient Model of stimulant abuse treatment will be randomly assigned to one
      of four counseling groups (n=100 per group): (1) unstructured/non-directive, (2)
      structured/non-directive, (3) unstructured/directive, or (4) structured/directive telephone
      counseling, or (5) a control group consisting of standard referral to Matrix aftercare, for a
      total sample size of 500. The two structured conditions will be based on the behavioral
      "prompts" identified by Farabee et al. (2002)* as being associated with drug avoidance. In
      the non-directive conditions, subjects will be allowed to state their own goals and how they
      intend to achieve them. In the directive conditions, the counselor will provide specific
      recommendations to help the subject adopt as many of the drug-avoidance activities as
      possible. Outcomes will be tracked for 12 months following completion of primary treatment (a
      total of 16 months after treatment admission) and will include measurement of participation
      in drug-avoidance activities (including aftercare participation) as well as self-reported and
      objective measures of substance use and related behavior change.

      *Farabee, D., Rawson, R.A., & McCann, M. (2002). Adoption of drug avoidance activities among
      patients in contingency management and cognitive-behavioral treatments. Journal of Substance
      Abuse Treatment, 23, 343-350.
    

Intervention name(s): Continuing Care Telephone Support
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Counselor-provided telephone support as strategies to promote patient aftercare attendance and sustained abstinence from stimulant use. To this end, we will develop and compare the efficacy of four low-cost telephone support protocols for patients who have completed the intensive phase of a structured, outpatient stimulant abuse treatment program.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: Stimulant; Drug treatment; Continuing care; Telephone support; Aftercare