Research Project
9746200
Project Summary/Abstract Approximately 4.5 million offenders under community supervision in the U.S. have considerably high rates of substance use and are at increased risk for HIV/HBV/HCV infection after release back to the community. Epidemiological studies of substance use provide information about patterns of use based on drug type; however, there is limited evidence regarding opioid use and decision-making and help-seeking intentions, particularly for related healthcare services (e.g., HIV testing).The proposed administrative supplement is an exploratory analysis utilizing secondary data from the NIH-funded parent grant (R01DA025885) titled, Sustainable HIV Risk Reduction Strategies for CJ Systems (DRR-2), a 5-year project to develop and test a self-contained, computer-administered intervention called StaySafe. The StaySafe intervention is designed to improve decision-making regarding health risk behaviors for justice-involved individuals who are participating in substance use treatment. The proposed supplement builds upon the parent study by (1) extending data collection to include qualitative data analysis of focus group interviews for a subgroup of opioid-involved individuals on probation who were assigned to the StaySafe enhanced condition; and (2) supporting an exploratory analysis of potential factors moderating the relationship between a history of opioid use and StaySafe participation and outcomes to determine the differential effectiveness of the technology-based intervention for this subgroup of participants. The exploratory objectives are to learn if self-reported opioid use is associated with differential participation in and effectiveness of StaySafe. We will examine responses to surveys (baseline and 3-month follow-up) and tablet session data from community and residential probation sites in three counties in Texas, to investigate the influence of opioid use on participation rates, StaySafe theme preferences, and motivation, confidence, and knowledge outcomes for this subgroup of participants. Additionally, we propose to examine aggregated agency data for the TCU Drug Screen 5 and TCU Opioid Supplement, two assessments that are collected as part of standard clinical practice at one residential site, to gain a more comprehensive understanding about amount and types of opioid use and associated events (e.g., overdose) in our target population. Furthermore, in an effort to glean more information and impressions from participants about their experiences with StaySafe and help-seeking intentions, we are proposing to recruit a purposeful sample for two focus groups. Focus groups will be conducted as semi-structured interviews, and audio recordings will be coded and analyzed for prominent themes and unique perspectives. It is anticipated that the findings from this supplement will provide valuable insight for tailoring technology-driven intervention approaches to best address the needs of individuals with problematic opioid use.
