Recent Incarceration and Minoritized Racial Status as Barriers to the Effectiveness of Recovery Management Checkups

Recovery management checkups done in primary care settings (RMC-PCs) can be an effective intervention to link individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) to treatment and help them stay engaged with treatment. There is reason to question, however, whether RMC-PCs are as effective for those who have been recently incarcerated or for those holding a minoritized, racial identity.

We examined data from a randomized controlled trial of RMC-PCs compared to a control condition (N = 266).

Multilevel analyses of 4-wave data (3, 6, 9, and 12 months after baseline) indicated that RMC-PCs were more effective than the control condition, especially early in the 12-month study period. The relative effectiveness of RMC-PCs was stronger, however, for participants with fewer days in jail just prior to baseline as well as for White (versus non-White) participants.

These findings suggest the utility of examining potential mediators of these moderated effects in future research as well as tailoring SUD interventions to better meet the needs of these populations.