My name is Brent Moore.
I'm a research psychologist
with the VA Connecticut Health Care System,
and I'm also a research scientist at Yale University.
The work that I do is about an automated mobile system;
the Veterans Recovery Line.
So it's an automated system that's meant to help Veterans,
that are in substance use treatment,
with their substance use problem.
And so it's very direct.
It's very much intended to be in the hands of Veterans,
and it's intended to help them
specifically with their substance use problems.
It has all sorts of different potential modules
that people can use.
There are modules that people use to learn about the system
and learn about ways of dealing with their substance use.
So that may be doing things like relaxation
or ways that they can reduce their stress.
It can also be doing things like learning about "triggers"
or things that might lead them to use more.
And all of the system that we have
is based upon Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
and it's embedded from that
so that there's learning these learning modules
and then there's what we call "activity modules."
So the activity modules are intended to provide people
with specific help, at that moment.
So it may be something like an immediate relaxation exercise
if people are feeling really stressed.
Or it could be a way of trying to deal with
their sense of craving,
or the problems that they have with craving.
And those are called "urge surfing,"
which is a common thing people do in CBT,
but this provides it to them right as they're on the phone.
There's other types of modules that we have
and there's other things that are completely distractions,
and other things that are intended to help people
be encouraged about their recovery process
and to focus on that process.
A real strength of the system
is that it can reach people where they are.
It's available 24 hours a day, any time,
from any place people have a phone--
they don't even have to have a smart phone with this.
They can call on a land line, on a pay phone,
because those actually still do exist
and we've had people call in on these pay phones.
And they can get help right then.
At that one moment
if they make the decision not to drink or not to use,
they've made a different decision
than they have previously.
And so that changes the path.
And as they make that single decision,
it makes it easier to make the next decision to not do it.
And as they string those together,
that's what makes recovery.
And that's what's exciting to me,
and that's why I think we need to provide tools,
for Veterans to be able to be in charge of their own recovery.
We did find several things that were really interesting
as far as the outcomes.
It was a small-scale study.
There were only 35 participants in the study,
but we did find that those folks
that had access to the recovery line
improved on their coping skills.
So we have a measure of coping skills efficacy
and so they improved on those, whereas the other group,
that did not have access to the recovery line did not.
We also found that afterwards,
the folks in the Veterans Recovery Line
continued with services.
They continued to remain engaged
with the substance abuse services that were available,
but they did so mostly with outpatient type services,
whereas the folks that didn't have access to it
were more likely to go back to the same program,
the same types of program.
That intensive outpatient program.
It suggests that the Veterans Recovery Line
might decrease the total amount of services
that people might need.
We actually worked closely with site of the service,
the clinical program that we're with,
and that's the substance abuse day program in West Haven.
And we work with the director, and we also work pretty closely
with the counselors and the therapists.
And one of the things that I think
was really interesting for me about the study was:
I've done other work like this
and worked with the substance abusers
and worked with ways to try to improve a product
so it could be good for them,
but I haven't been able to sort of engage the therapists
and the other folks as much.
And what we found was that we were able to do that
quite a bit with this study.
And we were able to get the therapists and the counselors
enthusiastic and excited about the program.
When we were developing this and as we worked on it
one of the things that we did
was we did a fair bit of communication
with Veterans and with Staff
to try to improve the program and make it better.
So the initial program that we had actually had
was sort of for a general drug abuse.
And so we talked about "use" and we did all these things
and what we found when we brought it to the new program
was there were a lot of folks who were alcohol users,
and so you can't just say "use," it sounds weird,
when somebody's drinking.
So we re-did the entire program
so that it would be specific for alcohol.
So we have an alcohol version and we have a drug version,
so that it can better meet the needs of those individuals.
There's layers and layers of appreciation
for the Veterans that have participated in our study,
and have decided not to participate in our study,
and that have had the problems that they have
and yet willing to be open and share their lives
so that we can try to help them and help others in the future.
It's a very courageous thing,
and I think it comes from their past history,
from what they know and who they are.
And I think if we didn't have that,
we wouldn't have the VA that we have.