Project Summary
PCORI has identified treatment for opioid use disorder as an important research topic. Patients, clinicians, and others want to learn: Can counseling, support groups, and similar programs help patients who are getting medicine-based treatment for opioid use disorder? To help answer this question, PCORI launched an initiative in 2018 on Psychosocial Interventions with Office-Based Opioid Treatment (OBOT) for Opioid Use Disorder. The initiative funded this research project and others.
This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final.
What is the research about?
Opioid use disorder, or OUD, happens when people misuse, become addicted to, or take too many opioids at once. Doctors may use medicine to treat OUD. But many people stop taking their medicine, which increases their risk of using opioids again or taking too many opioids at once. Involving friends and family may help people stay on treatment for OUD.
In this study, the research team is testing a counseling program for people who support patients with OUD, including family members, spouses, and friends. The program is called Integrating Support Persons Into Recovery, or INSPIRE. INSPIRE draws from the Community Reinforcement and Family Training, or CRAFT, approach and teaches support people effective ways to help a person with OUD change their behavior. It also teaches ways for them to feel better themselves. The team wants to know if INSPIRE helps patients stay on OUD treatment and if it improves health outcomes for patients and their support people.
Who can this research help?
Results may help clinic leaders considering ways to help people with OUD and people who support them.
What is the research team doing?
The research team is recruiting 500 pairs of adults who are starting treatment for OUD and their support people. Patients are receiving treatment from 17 community health clinics in California.
The team is assigning the support people to receive either INSPIRE or the usual services available at clinics. INSPIRE consists of ten 90-minute in-person group sessions, led by two facilitators. The research team is interviewing patients and support people at the start of the study and again 3 and 12 months later. The team wants to see if INSPIRE helps patients keep using medicine to treat OUD and stop using opioids. In addition, the team is looking to see if INSPIRE improves depression and anxiety for patients and support people. Finally, the team wants to know if INSPIRE works better for some people than others, such as when a support person is a family member, spouse, or friend.
Patients, support people, clinic staff, psychologists, psychiatrists, and health insurers are helping to plan and conduct the study.
Research methods at a glance
| Design Elements | Description |
|---|---|
| Design | Randomized controlled trial |
| Population | 500 adults ages 18 and older who are starting buprenorphine and their support person |
| Interventions/ Comparators |
|
| Outcomes |
Primary: patient buprenorphine retention Secondary: patient opioid and other substance use, patient and support person depression, patient and support person anxiety |
| 1-year follow-up for primary outcome |
COVID-19-Related Study
Summary
For patients with OUD, it may be hard to stay in treatment and for family members to support them in the time of COVID-19. Many health systems have shifted from in person care to telehealth. Telehealth provides care to patients remotely using phone, video, or other devices that can help manage care. Also, COVID-19 may strain social support.
With this enhancement, the research team wants to learn how telehealth groups for family members affects patients’ ability to stay in OUD treatment. The team will work with patients, support persons, and others to adapt INSPIRE for use by video. The new program will be called eINSPIRE. Patients who are receiving treatment can nominate their support person for the study.
Enhancement Award Amount: $497,054