# Fast-track: Scalable digital delivery of evidence-based training for addiction professionals to maximize treatment admission and retention rates of opioid use disorder in affected families.

> **NIH NIH R44** · WE THE VILLAGE, INC. · 2022 · $259,585

## Abstract

Effective medication-based treatment could prevent overdose deaths and help over 2 million Americans
recover from opioid use disorder (OUD), but only a fraction access specialty treatment or receive an
FDA-approved medication. Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) works with family
members to get treatment resistant individuals (Identified Persons; IPs) into treatment, and 68% of families
coached in CRAFT achieve treatment entry for their IP; about twice as many as comparison groups. However,
most addiction professionals (counselors) are not trained in CRAFT or deliver it with questionable fidelity. The
goal of this project is to develop and evaluate the technical feasibility and commercial viability of a
scalable digital counselor training program for CRAFT. The Counselor product would be tailored to
prepare counselors to work with family members of individuals with OUD. It will allow counselors to deliver
high-fidelity CRAFT and significantly benefit IPs and their families affected by OUD by addressing the critical
barrier of access to a leading evidence-based approach to family involvement in addiction recovery. Current
methods for training counselors and disseminating ESTs, including CRAFT, rely on brief online or in-person
workshops. However, research shows this format is minimally effective in facilitating adoption and
implementation of ESTs. A more efficacious model includes ongoing counselor training with feedback and
coaching. This project will develop an enhanced training model for CRAFT and digitize it to maximize
scalability. In this project, we will: Produce the digital counselor training prototype and coaching process,
tailored to OUD - with stakeholder input (Aim 1); Conduct a pilot study of 3 levels of digital training (Level 1
-Digital tutorial only [T]; Level 2 -Tutorial & digital training materials for self-study [TM]; Level 3 – Tutorial, digital
materials, feedback and coaching [TMC]) to establish feasibility, acceptability, and examine the effects of
training on CRAFT knowledge, fidelity, and treatment entry and retention (Aim 2). Validation of feasibility and
commercial merit in the Phase I pilot study will provide substantiation to advance to Phase II. In addition to
optimizing the product based on Phase I learnings and stakeholder input, Phase II goals will include
completing development of a supervised machine learning (SML) automated coding system that will score
counselor-submitted digital audiotapes of CRAFT sessions and generate written feedback including
suggestions for improvement. This will allow us to demonstrate digital training efficacy at scale and commercial
readiness (Aim 3). We will conduct a fully-powered randomized control trial comparing all piloted outcomes for
the 3 training level conditions (Aim 4). These studies form the basis to demonstrate commercial readiness and
value to purchasers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10482203
- **Project number:** 1R44DA053845-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** WE THE VILLAGE, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Jane Macky
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $259,585
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-07-15 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10482203

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10482203, Fast-track: Scalable digital delivery of evidence-based training for addiction professionals to maximize treatment admission and retention rates of opioid use disorder in affected families. (1R44DA053845-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10482203. Licensed CC0.

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