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Stand Down-Think Before You Drink: An RCT of a Mobile App for Hazardous Drinking With Peer Phone Support
Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Summary
Hazardous drinking is common among Veteran primary care patients and increases risk for more costly and complex medical problems over the long-term. Yet, the vast majority of these Veterans go untreated. By providing an option for care that is easily accessible, private, and self-directed, mobile applications (apps) circumvent many barriers to alcohol use treatment. However, poor patient engagement remains the Achilles' heel of these apps. Through supportive accountability, Peer Specialists can maximize the reach and engagement of these apps with patients and improve drinking outcomes. The goal of this project is to evaluate whether an app for alcohol use self-management ("Stand Down") reduces drinking among Veteran primary care patients who engage in hazardous drinking, and for whom Peer-Supported-Stand Down is more effective than the app alone. If successful, the proposed research has the potential to transform care and increase access to alcohol-related services for Veterans who engage in hazardous drinking but rarely seek treatment, and, in turn, mitigate the adverse health outcomes that stem from untreated hazardous drinking.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
Any - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
234
Start Date
2022-12-01
Completion Date
2026-08-30
Last Updated
2026-02-17
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Stand Down app
Patients in this condition will receive Usual Care (UC) and be provided a unique code and password to access Stand Down. The app is based on principles of motivational enhancement and cognitive-behavioral therapies and comprises 7 modules organized around 4 goals: 7 modules organized around 4 goals: (i) Enhance awareness of drinking patterns (assessment and personalized feedback), (ii) Establish and monitor progress towards drinking goal - i.e., moderation or abstinence, (iii) Manage cravings and other problems using in-the-moment tools, and (iv) Connect users with other types of support. App usage will be tracked by the research team for the duration of the study (32 weeks).
Peer-Supported Stand Down
Patients assigned to this condition will receive UC and access to Stand Down, plus four phone sessions from a Peer over 8 weeks. Sessions will be bi-weekly, approx. 15-30 minutes in length, and focus on enhancing patients' engagement with the app.
Usual Care
All patients, regardless of condition, will have access to usual care for hazardous drinking in primary care. In this setting, usual care entails a spectrum of alcohol-related services including annual screening for hazardous drinking, brief intervention following a positive screen (advice from a provider to reduce their drinking), and referral (as needed) to specialty AUD treatment.
Locations (2)
VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, California, United States
Syracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
Syracuse, New York, United States