Abstract
BackgroundA large proportion of people attending residential alcohol and other substance abuse treatment have a co-occurring mental illness. Empirical evidence suggests that it is important to treat both the substance abuse problem and co-occurring mental illness concurrently and in an integrated fashion. However, the majority of residential alcohol and other substance abuse services do not address mental illness in a systematic way. It is likely that computer delivered interventions could improve the ability of substance abuse services to address co-occurring mental illness. This protocol describes a study in which we will assess the effectiveness of adding a computer delivered depression and substance abuse intervention for people who are attending residential alcohol and other substance abuse treatment.Methods/DesignParticipants will be recruited from residential rehabilitation programs operated by the Australian Salvation Army. All participants who satisfy the diagnostic criteria for an alcohol or other substance dependence disorder will be asked to participate in the study. After completion of a baseline assessment, participants will be randomly assigned to either a computer delivered substance abuse and depression intervention (treatment condition) or to a computer-delivered typing tutorial (active control condition). All participants will continue to complete The Salvation Army residential program, a predominantly 12-step based treatment facility. Randomisation will be stratified by gender (Male, Female), length of time the participant has been in the program at the commencement of the study (4 weeks or less, 4 weeks or more), and use of anti-depressant medication (currently prescribed medication, not prescribed medication). Participants in both conditions will complete computer sessions twice per week, over a five-week period. Research staff blind to treatment allocation will complete the assessments at baseline, and then 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post intervention. Participants will also complete weekly self-report measures during the treatment period.DiscussionThis study will provide comprehensive data on the effect of introducing a computer delivered, cognitive behavioral therapy based co-morbidity treatment program within a residential substance abuse setting. If shown to be effective, this intervention can be disseminated within other residential substance abuse programs.Trial registrationAustralia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): ACTRN12611000618954
Highlights
A large proportion of people attending residential alcohol and other substance abuse treatment have a co-occurring mental illness
The purpose of the current study is to examine the effectiveness of ‘adding’ the SHADE program to an already established treatment facility
It is expected that long-term mental health outcomes for participants who complete the SHADE program will be significantly better than for those allocated to the control condition
Summary
A large proportion of people attending residential alcohol and other substance abuse treatment have a co-occurring mental illness. It is likely that computer delivered interventions could improve the ability of substance abuse services to address cooccurring mental illness This protocol describes a study in which we will assess the effectiveness of adding a computer delivered depression and substance abuse intervention for people who are attending residential alcohol and other substance abuse treatment. It is very common for people with alcohol or substance dependence disorders to have other co-occurring mental illnesses. There is evidence that integrated residential treatment facilities are more effective in treating complex mental illness and substance abuse disorders, than less integrated facilities [2]
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