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Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) and Assertive Continuing Care (ACC)

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

The goal of the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) is to help 12 to 22 year old youth recover from alcohol and drug addiction.

A-CRA offers three types of sessions: adolescents alone, parents/caregivers alone, and adolescents and parents/caregivers together. First, the adolescent's needs are determined and a self-assessment of happiness is collected, after which the therapist chooses from 17 available A-CRA procedures that address the specific needs of each adolescent with the goal of eliminating alcohol and drug addiction and improving life satisfaction. Sessions include role-playing/behavioral rehearsal, and all end with homework assignments aimed to encourage the adolescent to practice skills learned during the sessions.

A-CRA procedures are often used as part of Assertive Continuing Care (ACC). ACC includes homes visits and care management for adolescents who have just participated in treatment for substance abuse or dependence.

Goal / Mission

The goal of the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach is to help adolescents recover from alcohol and drug addiction.

Impact

Results from studies on this treatment program demonstrate that there can be superior engagement, retention, and short-term substance use outcomes for those in the A-CRA and ACC approaches compared to UCC. The ACC protocol can also result in significantly more patients linking to continuing care.

Results / Accomplishments

One study compared participants who received usual continuing care (UCC) to those who received Assertive Continuing Care (ACC) which included the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach. The study reported that those in the ACC group were significantly more likely than those in the UCC group to continue abstaining from marijuana at 3 months post-intervention (p<0.05).

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Chestnut Health Systems (Lighthouse Institute)
Primary Contact
Mark D. Godley, PhD
Chestnut Health Systems
1003 Martin Luther King Jr Dr
Bloomington, IL 61701
(309) 451-7800
mgodley@chestnut.org
http://ebtx.chestnut.org/Treatments-and-Research/T...
Topics
Health / Adolescent Health
Health / Alcohol & Drug Use
Organization(s)
Chestnut Health Systems (Lighthouse Institute)
Date of publication
2/15/2002
Location
Illinois
For more details
http://www.cebc4cw.org/program/adolescent-communit...
http://www.robertjmeyersphd.com/pdf/JSAT.pdf
Target Audience
Teens

Related Content for: Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) and Assertive Continuing Care (ACC)

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.