# Multi-site Pilot Trial of Strengths-based Linkage to Alcohol Care (SLAC) for Hazardous Drinkers in Primary Care

> **NIH VA I01** · CENTRAL ARKANSAS VETERANS HLTHCARE SYS · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Background: Relatively few Veterans screening positive for hazardous drinking in primary care (PC) receive
alcohol care in the year following their alcohol screening. This suggests that existing VHA options for linking
Veterans in need of alcohol care, including those with comorbid hazardous drinking and PTSD and/or
depression (A-MH), are not effective. To that end, we have identified and propose to pilot test a promising
evidence-based intervention, Strengths-based Linkage to Alcohol Care (SLAC). SLAC has the potential to
increase linkage to alcohol care, as well as to improve drinking and mental health outcomes, among Veterans
with A-MH in PC.
Significance: Existing VHA options such as VHA-recommended brief alcohol counseling do not improve
linkage to alcohol care, suggesting a critical need for more intensive but practical efforts to link Veterans with
A-MH to care. This proposal directly addresses HSR&D priorities in the areas of Access to Care, Mental Health
(PTSD), and Primary Care by testing a novel approach (SLAC) to linking Veterans with A-MH to VA and non-
VA alcohol care and to improve their drinking and mental health outcomes.
Innovation and Impact: The proposed project is highly innovative because it offers a solution to the critical
gap in VHA care in which most Veterans in need of alcohol care do not receive it. It tests a strategy to increase
linkage to alcohol care that is both intensive enough to produce change, yet feasible to use in busy clinical
settings with too-high demand on too-few staff members. A highly innovative feature of SLAC is that it teaches
PC providers how to link Veterans with A-MH to alcohol care, which may help normalize conversations about
patients’ alcohol use and their care options in PC as part of the provider role. PC providers’ lack of knowledge
on how to treat hazardous drinking is a substantial obstacle to Veterans receiving alcohol care. Additional
unique and innovative features of SLAC are that it uses patients’ self-identified strengths, abilities, and skills to
help them link to an alcohol care option.
Specific Aims: Our two aims are (Aim 1): To adapt SLAC for use among Veterans with A-MH and for delivery
by telephone in the VHA PC setting. We will conduct qualitative interviews with Veterans, PC staff, and our
VACO operational partners to ensure that the content and format of SLAC are adapted so they are relevant
and acceptable to these stakeholders. (Aim 2): To determine (a) the feasibility of conducting a larger scale
randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test SLAC’s effectiveness and (b) SLAC’s acceptability among Veterans
with A-MH in PC, and to explore (c) the efficacy of SLAC in this Veteran population. To achieve Aim 2, we will
conduct a multi-site pilot RCT of SLAC at two VA medical facilities (Little Rock, AR and Palo Alto, CA). To
achieve Aims 2a-b, we will measure the feasibility (e.g., rates of enrollment and follow-up, fidelity to the SLAC
intervention) of co...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10973591
- **Project number:** 5I01HX003219-03
- **Recipient organization:** CENTRAL ARKANSAS VETERANS HLTHCARE SYS
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael Anthony Cucciare
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-01-01 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10973591

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10973591, Multi-site Pilot Trial of Strengths-based Linkage to Alcohol Care (SLAC) for Hazardous Drinkers in Primary Care (5I01HX003219-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10973591. Licensed CC0.

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