Clinical trial NCT02457949: The Impact of Alternative Social Assistance Disbursement on Drug-related Harm
Official title: The Impact of Alternative Social Assistance Disbursement on Drug-Related Harm: a Randomized Control Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: TERMINATED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Drug Use
Keywords: Social Assistance
Drug Use
Drug-Related harm
Lead sponsor: University of British Columbia
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: BC Centre on Substance Use
First posted: 2015-05-29
Enrollment: 194
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 19
Maximum age (years): 64
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: This study evaluates whether altering the timing and frequency of social assistance disbursement reduces drug related-harms that increase on the days surrounding monthly synchronized government social assistance cheque issue.

Detailed description: Coordinated monthly income assistance payments, while seeking to alleviate poverty, can also have negative and unintended impacts, particularly among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD). Observational research has identified escalations in drug-related harm coinciding with monthly assistance payments, such as overdose, treatment interruption, hospital admissions and public disorder. This project varies the timing and frequency of income assistance disbursement, and evaluates whether varying income assistance disbursement reduces drug-related harm coinciding with coordinated income assistance.

Conducted among 273 PWUD, participants will be allocated for 6 income assistance cycles to a control or one of two intervention arms. Participants in the control arm will receive payments according to the existing monthly government schedule. Participants in the intervention arm will receive their income assistance: (1) monthly on a day different from government cheque issue; or (2) semi-monthly on days different from government cheque issue. The intervention will be evaluated using qualitative and quantitative methods for its impact on drug use and related harms.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* be ≥19 years of age or older
* reside in greater Vancouver, Canada
* report regular use of illicit drugs other than cannabis
* receive monthly provincial income assistance
* are not currently administered (where cheque issue/money is externally managed)
* be eligible and willing to be a client of the local credit union who will administer the intervention
* report intensified drug use around government cheque issue days
* provide written informed consent
* be willing to comply with study procedures

Exclusion Criteria:

* plan to relocate outside Vancouver
* have plans to discontinue income assistance

Primary outcomes:
measure: Illicit drug use on government cheque issue days
timeFrame: 26 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Illicit drug use on non-government cheque issue days
timeFrame: 26 weeks
measure: Hospital admissions on government cheque issue days
timeFrame: 26 weeks
measure: Overdose
timeFrame: 26 weeks
measure: Police service utilization
timeFrame: 26 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Vancouver
country: Canada
facility: British Columbia Centre on Substance Use
state: British Columbia
Study officials:
affiliation: University of British Columbia
name: Lindsey Richardson, DPhil
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Richardson L, Laing A, Choi J, Nosova E, Milloy MJ, Marshall BD, Singer J, Wood E, Kerr T. Effect of alternative income assistance schedules on drug use and drug-related harm: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Public Health. 2021 May;6(5):e324-e334. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00023-2. Epub 2021 Apr 12.
citation: Mendell J, Richardson L. Integrated knowledge translation to strengthen public policy research: a case study from experimental research on income assistance receipt among people who use drugs. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jan 18;21(1):153. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-10121-9.
citation: Richardson L, Laing A, Milloy MJ, Maynard R, Nosyk B, Marshall B, Grafstein E, Daly P, Wood E, Montaner J, Kerr T. Protocol of the impact of alternative social assistance disbursement on drug-related harm (TASA) study: a randomized controlled trial to evaluate changes to payment timing and frequency among people who use illicit drugs. BMC Public Health. 2016 Jul 29;16:668. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3304-6.