Research
NUWAY Alliance promotes the advancement of knowledge and insight to help people receiving treatment and the professionals who care for them. We partner with leading universities, insurance providers, and others to develop and field research projects that can inform caregivers, policymakers, the public, and recovery-supportive organizations around the world.
When it comes to research, there is strength in numbers. The large number of clients NUWAY Alliance treatment organizations serve makes it possible to conduct large-scale longitudinal studies that offer higher statistical relevance and accuracy than comparable behavioral healthcare studies.
Today, NUWAY Alliance entities are partnering with leading institutions to achieve new insights that offer new solutions to help people from every walk of life attain high-quality treatment and recovery-supportive services. Following are some of our current or recent projects:
Since 2019, NUWAY®, in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Practice Transformation, has engaged in ongoing research studying the impact safe, sober housing has on intensive outpatient clients’ longitudinal outcomes.
Read our most recent research briefs:
- NUWAY® Program Evaluation Report: Year 4
- Research Brief – Housing Profiles Among Adults Attending an Intensive Outpatient Program for Co-Occuring Disorders
- Research Brief – Participation in Recovery Housing and Outcomes Among Adults with Felony History
- Research Brief – The Substance Use Recovery Evaluator: A Closer Look Among Adults Presenting to an Intensive Outpatient Program for Co-Occuring Disorders
- Research Brief – Predictors of Successful Discharge from Intensive Outpatient Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
- Research Brief – Disparities between Black and White Outcomes in Outpatient Treatment for Substance Use Disorder
- Research Brief – Disparities between Indigenous American and White Client Outcomes in Outpatient Treatment for Substance Use Disorder
- Research Brief – Predictors of Client Dropout from Intensive Outpatient Substance Use Disorder Treatment
- Research Brief – Recovery Residence Populations – Differences in Characteristics of RISE Participants and Self-Housed NUWAY Clients
- Research Brief – Recovery Residences and Improved Outcomes – The Association Between RISE and Clinical Outcomes
- Research Brief – Effectiveness of Telehealth for SUD Treatment
In 2020, NUWAY® partnered with addiction recovery researcher Amy R. Krentzman, PhD, of the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, to test Positive Recovery Journaling, an intervention developed by Dr. Krentzman to support early recovery from addiction. Three NUWAY® facilities participated and journaling groups were held over Zoom during the COVID 19 pandemic. The study found that clients liked Positive Recovery Journaling (researchers call this, “acceptability”) and found it doable (researchers call this, “feasibility”). While there was no effect of the journaling among clients with more than 90 days of sobriety, clients with less than 90 days of sobriety who did the journaling had greater satisfaction with life, happiness with recovery, and quality of life, and less depression and negative affect than the control group. Dr. Krentzman provided a NUWAY Lunch and Learn last summer to report her results. The final results of this study have just been accepted for publication in the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. Dr. Krentzman also found that control group members in the study, who only completed daily surveys, actually found those surveys to be supportive of their recovery, which is a finding useful for the development of interventions that feature recovery check-ins. In addition, from the data that Dr. Krentzman gathered for this study, she was also able to determine that greater levels of happiness with recovery predicted leaving treatment on good terms and staying sober throughout treatment. Dr. Krentzman loves working with NUWAY and profoundly appreciates the administrators, supervisors, counselors, and clients who contributed to this study. Follow Dr. Krentzman across social media @drkrentzman.
“A New Outlook for NUWAY – Breck School poster“
In some cases, the research in which our clients participate can lead to the development of novel treatment modalities. Our collaboration with the University of Minnesota School of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is determining the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to treat stimulant use disorder. The results of this study, inc conjunction with the work of many others, may one day add a new tool to the evidence-based treatment arsenal used to treat addictive disorders.
Innovation
Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures are used to compare health plan performance to other plans and to national or regional benchmarks. NUWAY® and UCare, through a Integrated Care System Partnership, have begun to look at the relationship between individuals in intensive outpatient treatment (IOP), their connection to and usage of Primary Care (PC) and utilization of the Emergency Department (ED) related to Substance Use Disorder during and post discharge from IOP treatment.
