Increasing Attendance and Compliance With Incentives

Maxine Stitzer, Ph.D.

Johns Hopkins Univ SOM

Improving Care Conference

Johns Hopkins Center for Behavior and Health

September 25, 2013

Presentation Outline

• Motivational Incentives: Definition and goals

• Utility in service access, entry and utilization

• Application feasibility issues

Motivational Incentives =Contingency Management

• Definition: Positive reinforcement delivered for desired behaviors to increase frequency of those behaviors– Can be social (attention; praise) or tangible reinforcers

• What’s the goal?– Counter ambivalence and barriers to service access– Guide people to better health and well-being by

encouraging healthful and pro-social behaviors

Motivational Incentives positive reinforcement to promote desirable behavior change

Reward programs

Acknowledges people for achieving a major goal or completing significant progress

• Rewards usually given to the “best” and most motivated people

• They don’t change the behavior of those struggling with drug use and/or treatment compliance

Reinforcement programs on the other hand, use incentives to…

• Break down goals into very small steps • Reinforce each step along the way• Make it easy to learn & earn• Give reinforcements early and often• Include the most troubled and difficult to reach

most troubled & difficult to reach patients

Reinforcement programs

Reward vs Reinforcement Reward goals

Completing treatment

Get a job

Complete GED

30 days abstinent

Reinforcement goals

Attend treatment session

Submit job application; go to interview

Sign up for GED; attend a class

One negative urine

Incentives in Substance Abuse Treatment: Efficacy Review

• Service access and entry

• Repeated service utilization

• Drug use cessation and relapse prevention

Service Access and Entry

Getting people into the door

Immunization Rates

Rate

Rates increased when WIC food vouchers were given to those who had their children immunized

(Hoekstra et al., 1998)

Per

cent

Im

mun

ized

Vouchers for Free Methadone Treatment

(Sorensen et al., 2005)

• Opioid abusers (N = 126) receiving care in a hospital

• Randomly assigned to 4 conditions– Usual care referral– Case management for 6 months– Voucher for 6-months free methadone Tx– Combined voucher and case management

Vouchers for Free Methadone Treatment (Sorensen et al., 2006)

Per

cent

Rec

eivi

ng S

ervi

ces

Six-Month Outcomes

Vouchers for Treatment Re-entry(Kidorf et al., Addiction, 2009)

• Incentives offered to needle exchange users (N = 188) for attending “treatment readiness” groups – $10 cash; $10 MacDonald; $3 bus pass per

group attended• If they entered Tx, $50 was paid to the

program to cover initial fees

Vouchers for Treatment Entry(Kidorf et al., Addiction, 2009

INCENTIVES

PE

RC

EN

T

ATTENDED SESSIONS ENTERED TREATMENT

Care Continuity: Residential to OP(Aquavita et al., JSAT, 2013)

• Tested 3 methods of transition from 28-day residential to outpatient aftercare treatment (N = 260)– Usual care – Client incentive – Residential in-reach

Care Continuity Interventions

• Usual care– Select program; fax referral; make appt (optional)

• Client Incentive– $25 to show up; $75 more for continued attendance

• Residential in-reach– In-person meeting with OP counselor; sign contract;

next day appt

Residential-To-Outpatient Transition Rates

84%*74%*

Service Entry Summary

• Vouchers for free treatment have worked

• Direct payment to patients for entry not as effective as “warm hand-off”

Services Follow-Through

Receipt of HIV Test Results (Thornton R, Am. Econ Rev, 2008)

PE

RC

EN

T

Rural Malawi residents (N = 2812) accepted free HIV testingAll participated in a drawing where there could earn $0, $1, $2 or $3 if they returned for HIV test results

INCENTIVES

Incentives for Treatment Entry Follow-Through

(Corrigan et al., 2005) • Substance users with traumatic brain injury (N = 195)

with intake completed at an OP treatment program• Outcome = return to sign an individual service plan

(ISP) within 30 days • Randomly assigned via phone delivered intervention

– Attention control– Motivational interview– Barrier reduction- pay for taxi, bus, parking, etc– Incentives- $20 gift certificate upon ISP completion

Traumatic Brain Injured Sample Percent Signing ISP

Services Follow-Through

• Financial or transportation incentives can motivate people to follow up with the next step– Return for test results– Complete treatment ISP

Attendance Incentives:Encouraging People to Stay

Prizes Escalate With Prizes Escalate With Consecutive Target Behavior PerformanceConsecutive Target Behavior Performance

Sessions Attended

# PrizeDraws

1

2

4

5

3

Attendance Incentives in an HIV Drop-In Center

(Petry et al., 2001)

Average Attendance per Session

Baseline CM intervention

0.7 7 (range 0-3) (range 2-12)

Prize draws escalate with weeks of consecutiveattendance during a 14 week intervention (n = 43)

Attendance: Group Therapy for Methadone Patients(Sigmon & Stitzer, 2005)

• Patients were assigned to attend orientation (N = 44) or cocaine (N = 58) groups 2X per week for 12 wks

• Prize draws could be earned on an escalating schedule for attendance; max earnings = $170

Cocaine Group Attendance in Methadone Maintenance

Transition Clients

Consistent Clients

Per

cent

Se s

sion

s A

tte n

d ed

Attendance in OP Treatment(Petry et al., 2012)

• Participants (N = 215) were cocaine abusers urine negative at entry to outpatient psychosocial counseling treatment

• Randomly assigned – Usual care– Escalating prize draws over 12 weeks; max

earnings = $250

Attendance in OP Treatment $250 in prize draws

(Petry et al., 2012)

Ses

sion

s at

tend

ed

Care Continuity Study: Client Incentive Increased OP Attendance First 30 Days

*

Incentives for Session Attendance

Positive incentives have clearly been useful for increasing rates of attendance in substance abuse treatment settings and could be effectively used in health care settings

Abstinence Incentives:Initiating and Sustaining Drug

Abstinence

Majority of research has used drug abstinence during treatment as target

by reinforcing drug negativeurine tests

Voucher Reinforcement for abstinence initiation and

maintenance in cocaine abusers

• Principle of alternative reinforcement:– Benefits of abstinence are long-term– Making abstinence today a more attractive option

• Points earned for cocaine negative urine results– Escalating schedule of point earnings – Trade in points for goods– $1000 available over 3 months

Voucher Incentives for Outpatient Drug-free Treatment of Cocaine Abusers

Higgins et al. Am. J. Psychiatry, 1993

Cocaine negative urines

Methadone Maintenance Sample:Percent Stimulant Negative Urines

0

20

40

60

80

100

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23

Study Visit

Per

cen

tag

e o

f st

imu

lan

t n

egat

ive

uri

ne

sam

ple

s

Abstinence IncentiveUsual Care

OR=1.98 (1.4-2.8)

Abstinence Incentives

• Promotes initial abstinence when drug use is on-going• Promotes increased duration of drug-free treatment

participation after drug use stops (relapse prevention)

• Positive impact on long-term outcomes– Longer during-treatment abstinence translates into better

long-term outcome (Higgins et al., 2000)

Cross-Substance Generality

Cocaine Opioids

Methamphetamine

Alcohol Marijuana

Nicotine (Tobacco smoking)

Summary

• Positive incentives in the form of vouchers or prize draws can be therapeutically helpful in several ways to promote:– services access and entry– continued involvement in services– abstinence and relapse prevention

Potential Application in Health Care

• Access specialty services– e.g. vaccinations; prenatal and pediatric care

• Keep follow-up medical appointments• Address drug use as a barrier

• Take prescribed medicines• Promote healthy lifestyle change

Incentives can help overcome barriers and move patients along a

motivational continuum

• What’s in it for them? People like immediate gratification

• Long-term benefits to health are theoretical, largely intangible and in the future

• Incentives bring benefits forward in time and make them tangible

Can you do it?Traditional barriers to

implementation are coming down

• Attitudes

• Cost/financing

• Training resources

Why pay people to do what they should be doing anyway?

Because they aren’t doing it!

Incentives are a practical fix to atherapeutic conundrum

They change the therapeutic dynamic for difficult patients toward acknowledging and celebrating success rather than blaming or

dwelling on failure

Does everyone need incentives?

• Principle of “justice” suggests incentives should be given to everyone but-

• Incentives have best application for those who struggle with adherence despite lower-intensity interventions such as appointment reminders

Financing

• Ideally, incentives would be built into the budget and offset by health care cost savings

• Meanwhile, there are some work-arounds– Community donations (women and children)– Staff donations of goods and/or money– Small grants or agency-funded pilot projects

Dollar Stores are full of great things!

Incentive prizes don’t need to be costly but do need to be desirable know your audience

Ask patients what they want!

Implementation Needs Planning

• Who will be offered incentives?• How will program be structured?

– How much and for how long?• Who will manage and coordinate the program?• How will incentives be purchased and financed?• Where can staff get training and advice?• How will impact be evaluated?

Training Resources

• NIDA CTN Blending Products provide principles and tools for structuring an incentive program– Identifying effective reinforcers

– Constructing fishbowls

– Escalating schedules

• Expert consultants are also available through CTN and Addiction Technology Transfer Centers (ATTC)

Training Resources

• NIDA Blending Products– PAMI

– MI PRESTO (includes CD)

– www.ctndisseminationlibrary.org

• Petry Manual– Contingency Management for Substance Abuse

Treatment. A guide to Implementing This Evidence-Based Practice (Taylor & Francis, 2012)

Incentive programs are feasible to

implement

And they will make a difference!