The Therapeutic Workplace Intervention in Community Settings

NCT ID: NCT01841892

Last Updated: 2017-05-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: WITHDRAWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2013-04-30
• Study Completion Date: 2015-03-31

Brief Summary

Methadone is effective for heroin addiction, but many methadone patients continue to use cocaine. High magnitude and long-duration voucher-based abstinence reinforcement, in which participants receive vouchers exchangeable for goods and services contingent on providing drug-free biological samples, is one of the most effective treatments for drug addiction and can maintain cocaine abstinence over extended periods of time. Our research on a model Therapeutic Workplace has shown that employment-based abstinence reinforcement, in which participants must provide drug-free urine samples to access the workplace and maintain maximum pay, can maintain cocaine abstinence and reduce drug-related HIV risk behaviors over extended time periods. Our next challenge is to disseminate employment-based reinforcement for the treatment of drug addiction. The investigators propose to develop, manualize, and pilot test a community-friendly Therapeutic Workplace intervention that can be implemented widely throughout the US and elsewhere. Methadone patients who use injection or crack cocaine during methadone treatment will be invited to participate (N = 58) and randomly assigned to one of two groups: Usual Care (control) group or Community Therapeutic Workplace group. As in our prior implementations of the Therapeutic Workplace intervention, Community Therapeutic Workplace participants will enroll in Phase 1 to initiate drug abstinence and acquire job skills. Participants who initiate abstinence and acquire job skills in Phase 1 will be hired into community workplaces with collaborating employers in Phase 2. During Phase 2, employment-based abstinence reinforcement contingencies will be implemented using procedures for workplace drug and alcohol testing overseen by the US Department of Transportation. Using this system, a national provider of Drug-Free Workplace Services will arrange random drug testing and employment-based abstinence reinforcement contingencies in which employees will be required to remain drug-free to maintain employment. The investigators hypothesize that participants in the Community Therapeutic Workplace group will provide more drug-free samples, and engage in fewer HIV-risk behaviors than participants in the Usual Care group. The study will provide vital information on the acceptability of the intervention to participants and employers, and provide preliminary data on the effectiveness of the investigators procedures to maintain abstinence and promote employment.

Conditions

Drug Abuse; Alcohol Abuse

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Usual Care Control

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Community Therapeutic Workplace

Participants will be enrolled in Phase 1 training for 4 months, and will then be offered to apply for employment with collaborating community employers.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Community Therapeutic Workplace

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be enrolled in Phase 1 training for 4 months, and will then be offered to apply for employment with collaborating community employers.

Interventions

Community Therapeutic Workplace

Participants will be enrolled in Phase 1 training for 4 months, and will then be offered to apply for employment with collaborating community employers.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• ≥18 years old
• enrolled in methadone treatment in Baltimore
• unemployed
• provide a cocaine-positive urine sample at intake
• meet DSM IV criteria for cocaine dependence
• report using injection or crack cocaine

Exclusion Criteria

• report current suicidal or homicidal ideation
• have a severe psychiatric disorder

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Johns Hopkins University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Sigurdur O Sigurdsson, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Locations

Center for Learning and Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicince, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

1R34DA032778-01A1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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