# Addressing health disparities by providing evidence-based treatment in the Black Church

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $596,079

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Black/African-Americans use alcohol and illicit drugs at the same rates as their White counterparts but are
much more likely to suffer negative substance related consequences. Moreover, they are less likely to initiate
treatment when compared with other racial groups; and when they do, are significantly less likely to complete
treatment or to be offered evidence-based treatments. Stigma, mistrust of the medical system, lack of health
care coverage, complex pathways to care, lower socioeconomic status, and the scarcity of culturally-informed
treatment may all be factors underlying low treatment initiation and engagement. Thus, offering treatment in
alternative settings, such as the Black Church, a highly trusted entity in Black communities, is a novel, and
potentially highly disseminable strategy for improving both access to evidence-based treatments and alcohol
treatment outcomes for this important population. Technology-based treatments are an emerging strategy for
reaching underserved populations and can address barriers to delivering interventions in novel settings. One
such strategy, computer-based training for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT4CBT), has been demonstrated
in multiple randomized clinical trials to be safe and effective in reducing alcohol and other substance use, both
as an add on to treatment, and as a stand-alone treatment, relative to standard care.
We recently demonstrated the feasibility of both conducting a rigorous clinical trial as well as delivering
CBT4CBT in the Black Church, which demonstrated overwhelming levels of interest and enthusiasm from
Black adults with AUD, as well as highly promising levels of engagement and treatment completion. We now
propose an 8-week randomized clinical trial in which 200 Black adults with primary AUD will be randomized to
either CBT4CBT in the Black church or referral to standard treatment in a specialty addiction setting, with a 9-
month follow-up to evaluate durability of treatment effects. Primary outcomes include retention (initiation of
treatment, engagement for at least 4 weeks) and percent days abstinent from alcohol (PDA). Selected
participant characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnic identity, religiosity, severity of AUD, mental health diagnoses,
and vulnerabilities in the social determinants of health) will be evaluated as potential moderators of outcome.
Secondary outcomes include satisfaction with care, expansion of social support networks, reduction in heavy
drinking days and in WHO drinking levels, effects on comorbid substance use, and overall quality of life.
Moreover, if CBT4CBT is demonstrated to be effective with Black adults with AUD in this setting, this would
represent an inexpensive strategy to address health disparities that could be disseminated with relative ease
among the large network of denominations serving Black individuals in the US.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10544963
- **Project number:** 7R01AA028778-03
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Ayana Jordan
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $596,079
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2020-09-20 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10544963

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10544963, Addressing health disparities by providing evidence-based treatment in the Black Church (7R01AA028778-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10544963. Licensed CC0.

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