A Chatbot to Support Substance Use Recovery

Purpose

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if/how an AI chatbot can support patients who in recovery for substance use, specifically those who are receiving medication for opioid use disorder. Can the chatbot help lower drug use? Can the chatbot help improve clinical appointment adherence? Can the chatbot help patients build self-efficacy in leading their own recovery journey? Will the chatbot help reduce workload burden for primary care teams? Can the chatbot serve as a safe, useful and engaging tool to support patients? Researchers will investigate the effects of using a chatbot to support follow-up care for patients in opioid use recovery. Participants will: - Receive access to a chatbot for 12 weeks that they can use to prepare for upcoming clinical appointments, find community resources, learn about urge-surfing and wellness techniques, and query for assistance with other recovery-related information and tasks - Complete surveys and provide user feedback

Conditions

  • Opiate-Related Disorders
  • Opiate Substitution Treatment

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 18 Years and 65 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  • 18-65 years old - Comfortable with reading, understanding, and communicating in English - Receiving medication treatment for OUD at MGH? - Able to participate in a remote interview? - Own or have reliable access to Wi-Fi or a cellular network - Willing to use a mobile device to access the chatbot?

Exclusion Criteria

  • Has any cognitive, visual, or auditory impairments that may prevent the participant from using the chatbot on a mobile device? - Unstable medical condition that compromises the ability to safely participate

Study Design

Phase
Phase 1/Phase 2
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
N/A
Intervention Model
Single Group Assignment
Intervention Model Description
Pre-Post Intervention
Primary Purpose
Health Services Research
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Chatbot 		Participants will receive access to a chatbot for 12 weeks that can be used from a mobile device to support follow-up care and recovery needs.
  • Other: chatbot
    Participants will: - Participate in a baseline session to complete an initial survey and get trained on using the chatbot - Use the chatbot for 12 weeks and submit a brief weekly survey to provide feedback - Complete a final survey to provide substance use and health information as well as give feedback on the experience using the chatbot - Allow access to a limited set of demographic, substance use and health information in electronic health record for study analyses and context.
    Other names:
    • Suzy
    • conversational agent

Recruiting Locations

Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
Contact:
Cecely Sterling-Maisel, BA
617-643-9977
CSTERLING-MAISEL@mgh.harvard.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Dimagi Inc.

Study Contact

Dimagi Study Team
617-649-2214
studies@dimagi.com