# OurRelationship-S: A Digital Relationship-Strengthening Program for Couples Experiencing Substance Misuse.

> **NIH NIH R43** · OUR RELATIONSHIP LLC · 2024 · $293,467

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 This Phase I SBIR application seeks to meet NIDA’s desire for “Digital health technologies to address
the social determinants of health in context of SUD”. Romantic relationships are a core social determinant of
health that are widely neglected in SUD treatment and recovery services. Relationship conflict and distress are
common presenting complaints in SUD treatment and can lead to a reoccurrence and/or increase in use of
substances. Poor romantic relationships also interfere with successful SUD recovery. However, there are three
critical barriers to recovery service providers’ ability to offer existing relationship-focused interventions: they’re
not adjunctive, they’re too intensive, and they require extensive staff training. In this Phase I award, we will
create OurRelationship for Substance use (Our-S) to meet the needs of recovery centers nationwide as
an adjunctive, brief relationship program that does not require staff training.
 Our-S will be adapted from OurRelationship, a brief digital program that has been shown in multiple
RCTs to improve not only relationship functioning but problematic alcohol use, behavioral health, physical
health, and child functioning. This adaptation will occur through three aims. In Aim 1, Determine key market
requirements and barriers to adoption for Our-S, we will conduct a series of focus groups with staff and
administrators from recovery service providers as well as focus groups with individuals in SUD recovery
services and their partners. In Aim 2, we will develop new and adapted content for Our-S based on
information gleaned from the focus groups. This development will involve an iterative process of storyboarding,
validating that the new content would meet the requirements, and building that new content. In Aim 3, we will
test whether Our-S is user-friendly, endorsed by providers, and improves couple outcomes. One
hundred four couples – referred from a variety of recovery services providers – will be randomized to either
Our-S or a recovery service as usual (SAU). Intervention couples will be assessed repeatedly during the
program about its ease of use and engagement. Couples in both groups will respond to measures of
relationship outcomes and relational recovery capital – putative mechanisms of ultimate outcomes of
substance misuse. Recovery providers will also report on whether Our-S is valuable, feasible, and appropriate.
 There is strong potential for the commercialization of an adjunctive, digital relationship
intervention in the SUD recovery service industries. For example, NIDA’S and SAMHSA’s push towards
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs)1 (NOT-MH-22-1702) – supported by Medicaid
expansion grants and other state funding – requires family-centered and family support services. Many
CCBHCs do not offer family services themselves, instead relying on contracts with Designated Collaborating
Organizations. Building on OurRelationship LLC’s existing nationwide servic...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10918425
- **Project number:** 1R43DA059979-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** OUR RELATIONSHIP LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Kelly Brock Sansbury
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $293,467
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10918425

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10918425, OurRelationship-S: A Digital Relationship-Strengthening Program for Couples Experiencing Substance Misuse. (1R43DA059979-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10918425. Licensed CC0.

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