The Effectiveness of Ultra-Low Magnitude Reinforcers: Findings From a "Real-World" Application of Contingency Management.

BACKGROUND

Research has consistently found contingency management (CM) to be an effective tool in increasing desired patient behaviors in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. Despite the strong evidence for the effectiveness of this intervention, practical issues and the cost of implementing CM in treatment programs have been significant barriers to adoption.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the impact of a CM program designed and implemented by university-affiliated methadone clinic staff to increase patient group attendance. The CM program consisted of a weekly raffle for patients attending clinician-led group counseling and/or in-clinic Methadone Anonymous (MA) groups in which slips with patient ID#s were entered and one ID slip was drawn per week with a fee credit for a dose of methadone ($15) as the prize.

METHODS

The CM program continued for 12 months. Group attendance was tracked before, during, and after CM implementation as part of ongoing clinic service utilization monitoring.

RESULTS

Following the implementation of CM, attendance at any clinician-led or MA groups increased significantly from baseline to month 1 (X=5.78, p<0.05) but this increase was not sustained beyond month 6. Analysis of attendance by type of group revealed that clinician-led group attendance did not increase significantly but there was a significant increase in in-clinic MA group attendance from baseline to month 1 (X=20.27, p<0.001), which was sustained through the 12-month implementation period (X=11.21, p<0.001) and through 3 months post-implementation (X=14.73; p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

A low-cost, simple CM intervention implemented by clinic staff was associated with significant increases in the target behavior of increasing group attendance.