Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Substance use disorders (SUD) are highly prevalent among people with a psychotic disorder (Destoop et al, 2021). Individuals with a dual diagnosis of a SUD and psychotic disorder frequently have poorer clinical and functional outcomes, such as higher rates of homelessness and psychiatric hospitalization (McDonell et al, 2017). Additionally, despite the frequent co-occurrence of these disorders and associated detrimental outcomes, few individuals receive concurrent treatment for both conditions (McDonell et al, 2013). Due to a clinical need for integrated addiction and mental health care for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum illnesses, we are considering adding a novel psychosocial intervention, contingency management, to enhance our current standard of care which includes group therapy and pharmacological treatment. Contingency management is an evidence-based intervention which entails providing reinforcers to individuals who maintain abstinence. There is evidence to suggest that contingency management results in the largest reductions in substance use in comparison to all other psychosocial treatments (McDonell et al, 2013). Currently, there are limited findings on the effectiveness of contingency management specifically with clients dually diagnosed with schizophrenia and SUD. The proposed planning activities will explore this knowledge gap and lead to collaborative development of priority research questions and a draft grant application.