An Exploration of the Recovery Experience in Australia
Objectives: This is a extension of the Pathways study to be conducted in Melbourne, Australia, as a first step toward broadening the investigation of addiction recovery to other socio-political and cultural contexts. The study will combine quantitative and qualitative methods to address the following objectives:
- To describe participants’ “paths to recovery” (utilization of formal addiction services, helpful elements, unmet needs, previous attempts at addiction resolution and lessons learned);
- To examine participants’ knowledge, perceptions and experiences with addiction self-help groups (12-steps as well as non-12-steps);
- To Examine beliefs about addiction and recovery (e.g. Is addiction a lifelong disorder?); recovery goals (e.g., is total abstinence necessary?);
- To compare findings from Aims 1-3 between the Australian and US sample to identify cross-cultural recovery processes; to use these findings to inform policy, practitioners and funders toward enhancing the availability of recovery promoting resources; and
- To build on the international scientific collaboration established for this project toward developing proposals for large-scale prospective investigations of recovery-promoting factors worldwide.
Significance: Drug use presents a critical threat to public health worldwide. Effective treatments have been identified but gains are often short-lived. Examining the experiences of persons in recovery can contribute to the resolution of problematic drug use globally by elucidating how recovery is defined and lived, which modalities and community resources are helpful, and which are needed but not sufficiently available. The parent Pathways study is conducting such a prospective study in the US. Drug use and recovery depend largely on the cultural and psychosocial context. While cross-cultural processes are likely to be at play (e.g., motivation to change), the local context (e.g., treatment philosophy, availability of resources) plays a critical role in how recovery is defined (goals), attained and maintained. Thus, investigating recovery in one country is not sufficient, as one cannot automatically assume that findings will be generalizable to other regions where different social, cultural and ideological frameworks prevail. This pilot study adapts the design and methodology of the Parent study to explore factors that hinder or facilitate the resolution of problematic drug use in Australia.
Methods: Like the ongoing Pathways study in New York City, this project will recruit former drug users throughout the community, screen prospective participants for eligibility and interview them in person using semi-structured questionnaire. Self-reports are corroborated by hair analysis and/or collateral interview for a randomly selected subsample of participants. The study combines quantitative and qualitative methods to address its aims; it will recruit and interview 100 recovering drug users in Melbourne, Australia, for the quantitative arm of the study, conduct focus groups and individual in-depth ethnographic interviews with 60 additional participants.
In recognition of the need for enhancing the participation of service users in scientific research, the partnership between NDRI and SHARC is among the first research projects in the addiction field to integrate the lived experience of service users in the research process. The research design and instruments were adapted to the Australian context in partnership with persons with ‘lived experience of addiction and recovery’, lived addiction and recovery experience were a key criterion in staff selection, staff is being trained and supported to recruit and interview participants, and findings will be interpreted, reported and disseminated collaboratively for both the scientific and the recovering community. Based on previous findings in user/survivor led research, it is anticipated that the involvement of ‘experts by experience’ will (1) provide additional insight into the aspirations and needs of study participants and (2) more accurately identify the knowledge, experiences and perspectives about helpful resources, treatments and supports in the community. Moreover, service users often report that they find these participatory research models highly informative and empowering.
Applications: The project will contribute to identifying cross-cultural as well as culture-specific recovery barriers and facilitators. The study will yield detailed information in areas where little or no research has previously been conducted: (1) Australian recovering drug users’ treatment and self help utilization from a “career” perspective; (2) their perceptions about helpful services and resources, unmet needs and other obstacles to recovery; (3) their beliefs and goals about addiction and recovery; (4) comparison of these findings with a large US sample of recovering persons. Findings will inform practioners, funders and policy makers about helpful resources and unmet needs. It will also inform the international research community about crosscultural and culturally-based addiction and recovery “careers,” experiences, goals and needs of recovering drug users, toward enhancing availability of resources that promote the resolution of problematic drug use globally.
Storey, G., and Laudet, A. (2005) Emancipatory research in the addiction field: A partnership to promote empowerment and to understand the recovery process
Laudet and Storey. A comparison of the recovery experience in the US and Australia: Toward identifying ‘universal’ and culture-specific processes. Poster presented, International NIDA Forum, Scottsdale, AZ, 6/2006
Laudet, A. & Sgro, M. (2007) Recovery promoting factors and predictors of life satisfaction among former polysubstance users in the US and in Australia. Poster presented at the International NIDA Research Forum, Quebec, Canada.
Laudet, A. & Sgro, M. (2008). Different strokes for different folks - or are there universal recovery promoting factors? International NIDA Research Forum, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Center for the Study of Addictions and Recovery is part of the Institute for Treatment and Services Research.