A Pilot Test of a Mobile App for Drug Court Participants

• Published in: Substance abuse : research and treatment Vol. 2016; no. 10; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Johnson, Kimberly, Richards, Stephanie, Chih, Ming-Yuan, Moon, Tae Joon, Curtis, Hilary, Gustafson, David H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publishing 01-01-2016; SAGE Publications; Sage Publications Ltd. (UK); Sage Publications Ltd; Libertas Academica
• Subjects: Alcohol; Alternative sentencing; Chess; Clinical trials; Communication; Counseling; Court hearings & proceedings; Criminal justice, Administration of; Drug courts; Drug testing; Drug use; Information technology; Motivation; Original Research; Self help; Smartphones; Social support; Software; Studies; Substance abuse treatment; Massachusetts; substance use disorder; mobile health; drug court; substance abuse; social networks
• ISSN: 1178-2218; 1178-2218
• DOI: 10.4137/SART.S33390

The U.S. criminal justice system refers more people to substance abuse treatment than any other system. Low treatment completion rates and high relapse rates among addicted offenders highlight the need for better substance use disorder treatment and recovery tools. Mobile health applications (apps) may fill that need by providing continuous support. In this pilot test, 30 participants in a Massachusetts drug court program used A-CHESS, a mobile app for recovery support and relapse prevention, over a four-month period. Over the course of the study period, participants opened A-CHESS on average of 62% of the days that they had the app. Social networking tools were the most utilized services. The study results suggest that drug court participants will make regular use of a recovery support app.
This pilot study sought to find out if addicted offenders in a drug court program would use a mobile application to support and manage their recovery.