The Daily Progress System - A Recovery Support Tool to Reduce Health Disparities in Outpatient Substance Use Treatment

ABSTRACTSubstance use disordersSUDsincluding opioid use disorderscontinue to be one of the most serious public health issues in the USleading to negative physical and mental health problemsfamily disruptionand premature deathAfrican Americans with drug use histories that are under criminal justice supervision are particularly vulnerable to experiencing the negative consequences associated with SUDs due to higher levels of economic hardshipOutpatient treatment delivered in community based settings is the dominant modality for SUD treatmenttypically involving weekly psychosocial counseling sessions in an individual and or group formatLonger retention in treatment is associated with better outcomes including reductions in substance usemental health problemsand societal costsUnfortunatelyless than half of those individuals who initiate treatment successfully complete itAfrican Americans in particular have lower treatment retention and completion rates as compared to Whitesconstituting an ongoing risk for relapse and escalating substance useOne potential way to improve engagement and retention in substance use treatment involves ongoing client and counselor feedback during treatmentThe structure of outpatient treatment typically involves intermittent clinical contact between client and counselorgenerally on a weekly basisand often in a groupbased formatleaving clinicians with a deficit of information regarding client progress between weekly treatment sessionsRecent addiction research suggests that obtaining information from clients between weekly treatment sessions could provide counselors with valuable and timely data regarding client treatment needspotentially enhancing their ability to deliver quality care and client centered treatmentand improving treatment engagement and retentionand perhaps abstinence outcomesThe Daily Progress SystemDPSis a mobile friendlyweb based software application designed to improve treatment engagement and retention and reduce therapeutic information deficitsThe DPS will provide appointment reminder notifications and collect risk and protective factor information from clients in addiction treatment on a daily basisPrior to clientsweekly counseling sessionsthe DPS will generate a briefone page weekly summary report for counselors and clients that will summarize client daily report informationwhich can be used to improve the delivery of groupand individual based treatment servicesBy improving client engagement and retention in treatmentthis innovative technology has great potential to reduce health disparities regarding substance use treatment outcomes that affect one of the most vulnerable segments of the populationi eAfrican Americans with drug use histories under criminal justice supervisionGiven the continued public health crisis of SUDsincluding opioid use disorderstechnologies to enhance engagement and retention in treatment are urgently neededIf proven efficaciousthe DPS could be deployed across the growing national network of outpatient substance use treatment providersand health care centers that provide substance use treatmentto enhance quality care and improve client outcomespotentially having high public health impact PROJECT NARRATIVEThe Daily Progress SystemDPSis a mobile friendlyweb based software application that will provide clients in outpatient drug treatment with appointment reminder notificationsobtain information from them on a daily basisbetween weekly counseling sessionsand generate a briefone page weekly summary report for counselors and clients to inform client centered careThe DPS is designed to improve treatment engagement and retention among vulnerable clients in substance use treatment who are disproportionately likely to experience disparities in quality care and outcomes