Recovery-Based Relapse Prevention: Acceptability and Feasibility

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PROJECT SUMMARY A single-group pilot study with 60 participants will be conducted to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a novel treatment approach for addictive disorders, titled Recovery-Based Relapse Prevention (RBRP). RBRP is an open-format group treatment which relies on widely cited principles of recovery to address the relapse prevention goals of its members. The RBRP approach is innovative because it seeks to address disparities that limit treatment access for many low-income and rural individuals. For example, RBRP does not require attendance on a repeating schedule (i.e., the same day and time each week), nor must groups be led by the same provider or with fixed members. Furthermore, the treatment structure is flexible and can be used with individual members if attendance is low. Also, unlike some group- based treatments that can only be delivered by providers with high levels of education and clinical competencies, which limits the pool of available providers, RBRP is suitable to be delivered by a wide range of professionals including peer supports and addictions counselors. Finally, RBRP's structure includes treatment components that can be offered through digital self-help resources (e.g., online videos, handouts, smartphone applications). This single group pilot study will target recruitment to low-income individuals and those living in rural areas. RBRP groups will be offered within a university mental health clinic that caters to clients from the community. Those that are interested will be screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria over the phone. After providing informed consent, those that are eligible for the study and outpatient group therapy will be offered the opportunity to engage in up to three RBRP groups per week. There are three main objectives of the research: 1) To assess the feasibility of RBRP to include the open group format and a newly developed progress tracking tool, 2) to measure acceptability of RBRP including members' experiences of the group and relevant program components using rating scales and qualitative interviews, and 3) to collect quantitative data including frequency of use and symptom severity to obtain effect-size estimates for planning future studies. If this pilot and future studies are successful, RBRP has the potential to become an efficient and cost-effective method of increasing access to evidence-based relapse prevention services for individuals from low-income and disadvantaged environments. This aim is directly in line with the RCMI-CHDRs goal of supporting research focusing on health disparity populations and NIDAs goal of developing new and improved treatments for substance use disorders.