# Testing of patient-centered e-health implementation model in addiction treatment

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2020 · $154,983

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment system, demanding an
abrupt shift from in-person care to telehealth services. The transition to virtual care could permanently change
SUD treatment delivery. This shift is coinciding with COVID-19-induced social isolation and anxiety, which
could increase substance use and mental health disorder severity. A common refrain in the treatment and
recovery field is that addiction is a disease of isolation; the cure is connection. To provide virtual treatment and
the connection so essential to recovery, many SUD treatment centers are launching virtual services without a
method for assessing how, where, and why virtual services are affecting their patients' quality of life and SUD
recovery. The ACHESS smartphone app is currently being used at 40 Iowa treatment sites in the parent study,
“Test of a patient-centered e-health intervention in addiction treatment settings.” ACHESS offers a guide and a
method for assessing use of virtual services and an unprecedented research opportunity. From 3/3/20 to
3/20/20, sign-ups for ACHESS in the parent study increased by 67% compared to the two prior weeks. Activity
on the ACHESS app has nearly doubled in the same period! This supplement will address patient and
organizational factors because of their integral roles in providing virtual care and adopting patient-centered
technologies. The supplement will enhance ACHESS with new COVID-19 related features designed to help
patients comply with social distancing guidelines, cope with unprecedented social isolation, and access virtual
services and supports. The research will study how patients use ACHESS features, how organizations refer
patients to the ACHESS, how they interact with patients in ACHESS, and the overall impact of the ACHESS
features. The supplement's research aims are: Aim 1a: Refine ACHESS to provide information, support, and
data on COVID-19, social distancing, adjusting to social isolation, and how to use virtual SUD services. Then,
study how patients use existing ACHESS features before (for existing ACHESS services only), during, and
after the announcement of social distancing guidelines. Aim 1b: Assess how the enhanced ACHESS APP
affects anxiety, loneliness, and reported COVID-19 infections. Aim 2: Create ten case studies describing how
agencies implemented and used COVID-19 enhanced ACHESS and how their patients used COVID-19
enhanced ACHESS. This supplement's projected outcomes will help us understand how to design virtual
recovery systems to mitigate the effects of a pandemic and the resulting social isolation. The results will help
design a virtual recovery system that can be used in future emergencies and to address the on-going
challenges of social isolation in society post-COVID-19.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10140939
- **Project number:** 3R01DA044159-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVID H GUSTAFSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $154,983
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10140939

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10140939, Testing of patient-centered e-health implementation model in addiction treatment (3R01DA044159-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10140939. Licensed CC0.

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