Understanding Pathways to Wellness and Recovery in Detroit - Digital Recovery Support Services

NCT07724275 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 22126RR01AA029817
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 65
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if digital recovery support services (such as smartphone app) help to support alcohol recovery. We focus on a community of Black and African American people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who receive in-person recovery support services from a recovery community center. Participants will:

• Have an initial 2-hour in-person visit with the research team. During this visit, participants will be asked about themselves and their recovery from alcohol problems. They will also learn about digital recovery resources.
• Use digital recovery resources on their own for 12 weeks.
• Complete a short, weekly survey about their experience using digital recovery resources.
• Have a follow-up 1-hour in-person visit where the researcher asks about again about the participants, their recovery and how they felt about using the digital recovery support services.

Conditions

Alcohol Use Disorder; Recovery Outcomes; Digital Health

Keywords

alcohol use disorder; recovery; digital recovery support services; Black population; African American population

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Usability and Acceptability of D-RSS

  We include a module consisting of 20 items measuring usability and acceptability on a 4-point Likert scale (strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree). These items were selected from several sources, so do not have a pre-existing scale; we will consider whether a scale is appropriate by examining inter-item correlations and Cronbach's alphas for potentially conceptually similar subsets of items.

  At the end of the trial (13 weeks)

Study Arms (1)

TAU + DRSS

EXPERIMENTAL

At the initial in-person visit, participants will complete a structured interview of baseline assessments and will be provided with a menu of digital recovery support services (D-RSS) to participants, technical assistance, and a phone and data plan (if needed). The research team will discuss the D-RSS menu with the participants and guide them through app installation and use. Following the initial visit, it is up to the participants to engage with the D-RSS. We will send a text survey 1 week after the visit, and each week thereafter for 12 weeks, that assesses their engagement with in-person recovery supports, D-RSS, and their current recovery status. The 3-month visit will be scheduled in the week following the last (week 12) text survey, at which participants will meet with research staff for a final in-person assessment.

Behavioral: Digital recovery support services

Interventions

Digital recovery support services BEHAVIORAL

The primary intervention is the provision of a menu of digital recovery support services (D-RSS) to participants, along with a phone and data plan (if needed) and technical assistance. We have created a menu of D-RSS options that have been vetted by our team as appropriate for a range of recovery goals (e.g., manage emotions, track sobriety, connect with others) and for a range of technological literacy, as well as being culturally relevant or at minimum culturally agnostic. Types of D-RSS presented to participants include mobile applications, websites, and video playlists, all of which relate to and support addiction recovery. Participants also may use other D-RSS that they identify.

Also known as: DRSS, Digital RSS, Smartphone apps

TAU + DRSS

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Able to communicate in English and read at an 8th grade reading level.
• Able to read and sign an informed consent form.
• Comfortable with smartphone technology or willing and able to learn.
• Identify as Black or African American.
• Is an adult over the age of 18.
• Is in recovery from alcohol problems for at least 3 months and no more than 5 years.
• Is receiving in-person recovery support services at our partner recovery community center at the time of screening and enrollment.
• Willing to receive and respond to weekly texts with a survey link for brief assessments, and complete two in-person research assessments (baseline and 13-week).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brandeis University: lead
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): collaborator
• Detroit Recovery Project INC: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Detroit Recovery Project

Detroit, Michigan, 48208, United States

RECRUITING

Related Links

• Understanding Pathways to Wellness and Alcohol Recovery in Detroit (UPWARD) Digital Recovery Resources Study website

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Alcoholism

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Sharon Reif, PhD

  Brandeis University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Audrey Hildebrandt

CONTACT

781-736-8657; ahildebrandt@brandeis.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: All participants will be introduced to a menu of digital recovery services, and will be asked to engage with them over the course of the 12-week trial. We will track the level of engagement and types of digital recovery services used, if any, for analytic purposes. Participants who require a phone or data plan will have access provided through the study.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 20, 2026
• First Posted: July 24, 2026
• Study Start: June 13, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2027
• Last Updated: July 24, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF
• Time Frame: July 2026 to July 2029
• Access Criteria: Deidentified subject data will be available to those who meet the expectations of the NIAAA data archive. Supporting data will be available through clinicaltrials.gov or upon request.

Locations

US (1)