# Decreasing the Engagement Gap for Addiction Treatment in Primary Care

> **NIH NIH K01** · KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2020 · $181,800

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Significance. Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are common, costly, and life-threatening, but just 8 in 100
people with a past-year AUD receive treatment. Most individuals with AUDs visit primary care and prefer to
receive AUD treatment in primary care. This represents a missed opportunity.
 Career Development Plan. Dr. Glass is a clinician researcher who has successfully answered important
research questions by analyzing complex secondary datasets. His long-term goal is to conduct intervention
trials in primary care in order to increase the reach and impact of addiction treatment. The proposed K01
career development award will ensure that he receives the mentoring, training, and research experience
needed to achieve this goal. Because new mobile health (mHealth) programs offer a relatively novel—and
potentially cost-effective and scalable—approach to increasing the reach of effective AUD treatments into
primary care, Dr. Glass will focus his training on data collection and preparing for an effectiveness trial of a
promising mHealth intervention for patients with AUDs. This will prepare him to lead rigorous, state-of-the-art
trials of AUD interventions in primary care, and ensure he reaches his potential as a leader in AUD research.
 Research Plan. Dr. Glass's proposed research will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an existing
mHealth tool (Square2) as a new option for managing AUDs in primary care. The Square2 program includes
several evidence-based electronic tools for addiction treatment and associated comorbidity (depression,
anxiety and tobacco use), and is designed to address the needs of primary care patients irrespective of their
AUD severity or readiness to change. However, Square2 has not yet been empirically tested in primary care or
for AUD treatment, and developmental research is needed to identify the optimal approach to engaging a
generalizable primary care sample of patients with AUDs in a trial of Square2. Specific aims for the proposed
K01 are: (Aim 1) Assess the needs of primary care patients with AUDs, and clinicians who care for them, for
use of mHealth as part of primary care management of AUDs (n = 40); and (Aim 2) Pilot a randomized
controlled trial (RCT) to inform a future effectiveness trial by assessing a) the feasibility and acceptability of
delivering Square2 in primary care with clinician assistance, and b) the feasibility of the RCT design (n = 60).
 Mentorship and Environment. Expert investigators in AUDs in primary care (Primary Mentor Dr. Bradley);
mHealth (Co-Mentors Drs. Marsch and McClure); data collection (Co-Mentor Dr. Curran); and pragmatic trials
(advisor Dr. Simon) will support this research. The research will be conducted at the Group Health Research
Institute, an innovative research institution embedded in a large primary care system in the Pacific Northwest.
 Public Health Impact: The proposed activities will ensure the development of Dr. Glass into an innovative
independent re...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9981556
- **Project number:** 5K01AA023859-05
- **Recipient organization:** KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Joseph Edwin Glass
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $181,800
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9981556

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9981556, Decreasing the Engagement Gap for Addiction Treatment in Primary Care (5K01AA023859-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9981556. Licensed CC0.

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