LIVING IN BALANCE (LIB)--COCAINE ABUSE TREATMENT MANUAL

COCAINE ABUSE CONTINUES TO BE A CRITICAL PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES AND THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT NEED TO DEVELOP AND DISSEMINATE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT APPROACHES TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM. KOBA HAS DEVELOPED A MANUAL, ENTITLED "LIVING IN BALANCE" (LIB), WHICH IS THE BASIS FOR AN 12-MODULE INTENSIVE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL GROUP TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR COCAINE ABUSE. LIB IS DIRECTED PRIMARILY TOWARD THE NUMEROUS MINORITY, INNER CITY DRUG ABUSERS SERVED BY PUBLIC PROGRAMS, BUT FOR WHOM INNOVATIVE DRUG TREATMENT EFFORTS ARE RARELY INITIATED. CURRENTLY, THERE IS NO OTHER MANUAL FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT WHICH IS AS COMPREHENSIVE AS LIB AND WHICH HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO FOCUS PRIMARILY ON THIS POPULATION. THE SPECIFIC AIMS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED IN PHASE I OF THE SBIR GRANT WILL BE TO: (1) DEVELOP TWO NEW MODULES FOR THE MANUAL; (2) CREATE A STAFF TRAINING MANUAL THAT WILL PREPARE SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT PROVIDERS TO IMPLEMENT THE LIB PROGRAM; AND (3) REVISE AND FINE TUNE THE ORIGINAL LIB MODULES. DURING PHASE II OF THE GRANT, THE STAFF TRAINING MANUAL AND THE REVISED LIB MANUAL WILL BE EVALUATED IN A CONTROLLED, MULTI-SITE STUDY.