PEERS Pilot: Peer Recovery Support Program to Support Engagement in Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (PEERS)

February 20, 2026 updated by: Geisinger Clinic

Pilot Evaluation of a Peer Recovery Support Program Adapted to Target Retention in Clinic-based Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

The goal of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a peer recovery support program to support patient engagement in medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD). The program, entitled "Promoting Enhanced Engagement through Recovery Support" (PEERS) was developed in collaboration with community and clinical partners for the MOUD outpatient setting. Information gathered during this pilot study will inform refinements to the program and study components for a future clinical trial that will evaluate the effectiveness of the peer recovery support program in increasing patient retention in MOUD.

The investigators will recruit 12 participants to the pilot study, all of whom will receive the PEERS program. The study will take place in Geisinger outpatient addiction treatment clinics in northeast Pennsylvania. Patients initiating MOUD treatment at one of the clinics will be eligible for participation, and will be recruited via email, patient portal messages, and phone. Each participant will receive the PEERS program, entailing regular sessions with a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) for 6 months. Participants will also be asked to complete assessments at baseline and 12 weeks and will be invited to provide qualitative feedback on their experience with the program through an interview conducted between 8-12 weeks. As the focus of the pilot pertains to the feasibility and acceptability of the program and the study components, study outcomes focus on participant engagement in and acceptance of the program, CRS fidelity to the program, barriers to implementation, and feasibility of data collection.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

13

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Danville, Pennsylvania, United States, 17822
        • Geisinger Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult ≥ 18 years of age
  • Initiated medication for opioid use disorder at a Geisinger outpatient addiction treatment clinic within the past 45 days
  • Willing to participate in the Peer Recovery Support program
  • Able and willing to provide consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Received medication for opioid use disorder at a Geisinger outpatient addiction treatment clinic in the 90 days prior to the treatment initiation date
  • Not proficient in English

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Peer Recovery Support Pilot Program Implementation and Assessment
Participants will be offered services from a certified recovery specialist (CRS; i.e., the Peer Recovery Support program). This will entail a CRS meeting one-on-one with the patient at regular intervals (e.g., weekly) to provide support to the participant for a 6-month period. CRS services are patient-centered and driven by a patient's own recovery goals, thus the frequency, timing, duration, modality (in-person, phone), and location of meetings (in the clinic or in a community setting such as a coffeeshop) are flexible and determined collaboratively by the CRS and patient.
Behavioral: PRS Program
The Peer Recovery Support program will be delivered by a certified recovery specialist (CRS) over the course of 6-months. The CRS will provide supportive care to the participant during their initial 6-months of MOUD treatment to increase patient engagement in their treatment. The CRS may provide emotional support; help participants to identify their recovery assets, goals, and barriers; guide participants in creating a recovery plan; help participants to increase their coping skills; and assist participants in connecting to community and recovery resources.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility - Participant Engagement in the Peer Recovery Support Program
Time Frame: Baseline to 12 weeks
Percent of participants who attended at least 2 sessions with the Certified Recovery Specialist
Baseline to 12 weeks
Acceptability - Participant Alliance With Certified Recovery Specialist
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Participants' average scores for the Scales for Participant Alliance with Recovery Coach (SPARC-2); score can range from 1-5 and a high score indicates greater satisfaction with the CRS.
12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility - Feasibility of Assessment Completion
Time Frame: Baseline
Percent of participants who completed the baseline assessment
Baseline
Feasibility - Feasibility of Assessment Completion
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Percent of participants who completed the follow-up assessment
12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Geisinger Clinic

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
UConn Health

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Melissa Poulsen, PhD, Geisinger Clinic

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 18, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 9, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

July 3, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 18, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 18, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

November 19, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 25, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 20, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2024-0862
  • 1R61DA059880 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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