Victorian phone drug counselling program seems to help

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-08-04 03:00

Australia; VIC

The Victorian phone counselling program Ready2Change has the potential to improve treatment access for those struggling with alcohol, methamphetamine and cannabis use problems, especially in remote areas according to Aussie researchers. The team analysed program data of 249 clients with alcohol, methamphetamine or cannabis problems from December 2013 to June 2018 and found the program seemed to help reduce the severity of alcohol and methamphetamine use. All groups of people also showed reductions in problem severity for other substances and psychological distress. The findings warrant further investigation into the effectiveness of the program, the team says.

Journal/
conference: Drug and Alcohol Review

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Monash University, Deakin University

Funder: The authors acknowledge Catherine Martin and Paul Sanfilippo for their statistical advice, and Chloe Bernard for her contribution to the literature review. DL is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership Fellowship (ID 1196892). This research was supported by funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (grant APP1125026 and APP1186268). The R2C treatment program is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. The research or program funder was not involved in the conduct of this study or preparation of this manuscript, and the views expressed in this manuscript do not represent those of the funders. DL, VM, KH and JG have received research grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council. DL and VM have received research funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. DL, JG and VM have received research funding from VicHealth. DL has provided consultancy advice to Lundbeck and Indivior, and has received travel support and speaker honoraria from Astra Zeneca, Camurus, Indivior, Janssen, Lundbeck, Servier and Shire. IV, JT, BM and DL are employed by Eastern Health, which provides treatment for substance use disorders, and JG and VM are also associated with Eastern Health. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

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