An interventional study of Community Therapeutic Workplace in Drug Abuse and Alcohol Abuse, sponsored by University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Withdrawn at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-05-05.
Sponsored by University of Maryland, Baltimore County · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
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.
1,606 studies on the registry are indexed under Alcoholism; 329 are open to participants now.
Browse Alcoholism studies →University of Maryland, Baltimore County is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants will be enrolled in Phase 1 training for 4 months, and will then be offered to apply for employment with collaborating community employers.
Behavioral: 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.
Abstinence from alcohol, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, PCP, and amphetamine
Abstinence from alcohol and drugs in the standard Department of Transportation 5 (cocaine, opiates, marijuana, PCP, and amphetamines) drug panel (Y/N) at each assessment. Participants will be assessed for alcohol and each drug separately, but the primary outcome measure will be abstinence from alcohol and all 5 drug.
Time frame: Once per month for first 10 study months
HIV Risk Behavior
The outcome measure for risky HIV injection behaviors will be sharing needles/syringes without disinfecting, sharing cookers/cottons/rinse water, or sharing the drug solution in the past 30 days (Y/N). For risky HIV sex behaviors, the outcome measure will be always practicing safe sex in the past 30 days (Y/N), defined as abstaining from sex or 100% use of condoms during vaginal or anal sex.
Time frame: Once per month for first 10 study months, and once at 6 months follow-up after discharge
Rates of community employment
We will collect data on participant employment outcomes (types of jobs, salaries, benefits, etc.) and confirm employment with employers.
Time frame: Once per month for study months 5-10, and once at 6 months follow-up after discharge
Adherence of community employers with Phase 2 procedures
We will monitor whether employers notify participants of testing days. We will also monitor employer implementation of prescribed procedures following positive breath or urine samples.
Time frame: Weekly throughout study months 5-10
Acceptability of intervention to participants and employers
We will monitor acceptances of job offers, and durations of employment. We will monitor the number of job offers to participants and the number of terminations not due to drug use.
Time frame: Weekly throughout study months 5-10
This study is withdrawn, as verified in May 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County