Realist Evaluation of a CM Intervention for Alcohol Dependence - V.1.

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Realist Evaluation of a technology-delivered adjunctive Medication Management and Contingency Management intervention to enhance adherence to acamprosate for relapse prevention in alcohol dependence

  • IRAS ID

    212649

  • Contact name

    Ana Morande

  • Contact email

    ana.morande@kcl.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    King's College London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 9 months, 19 days

  • Research summary

    The NICE guidelines recommend the implementation of Contingency Management (CM) interventions in drug treatment services (2007). More research is needed to further inform the policy makers and stakeholders involved in designing and delivering these programmes within the NHS.

    This research will use a Realist Evaluation approach to unpack a technology-delivered CM intervention targeting attendance to a 24-week Medication Management (MM) programme for relapse prevention in alcohol dependence, as part of the randomised controlled trial 'Alcohol Dependence and Adherence to Medicine' (ADAM), in order to identify the 'active ingredients’ involved in the effectiveness of the CM intervention. This means that it will provide new data to inform and improve the design of CM interventions focusing on understanding not only the efficacy of this intervention, but also with whom, when, how, and the circumstances in which the CM programmes are more -or less- effective.

    This study will use a pragmatic combination of existing data provided by the ADAM trial team with new data gathered through interviews undertaken with 1) all the pharmacists who deliver the adjunctive CM and MM programme (n=4), and 2) service users assigned to receive the CM and MM programme (n=45).

    Eligible for this study will be:
    • Group A (n=15): participants who have completed the programme with successful completion of more than the average number of MM sessions.
    • Group B (n=15): participants who have completed the programme but attended to fewer than the mean number of MM sessions.
    • Group C: participants who dropped out the programme before the 24th-week (n=15).

    The recruitment will include different sites and services involved in the ADAM trial. The interviews will last between 60 and 90 minutes, following a semi-structured thematic guide. Participants will be interviewed on a single occasion, excepting pharmacists and group A who will be interviewed at 6 months follow-up after the intervention has ended.

  • REC name

    London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    17/LO/0423

  • Date of REC Opinion

    19 Apr 2017

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion