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

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: Opioid Use Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: PRS Program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 13
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

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

Participation Criteria

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

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

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	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	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	Percent of participants who completed the baseline assessment	Baseline
Feasibility - Feasibility of Assessment Completion	Percent of participants who completed the follow-up assessment	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Geisinger Clinic
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); UConn Health
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Melissa Poulsen, PhD, Geisinger Clinic

Study record dates

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: Opioid Use Disorder
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Narcotic-Related Disorders; Mental Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Opioid-Related Disorders
• 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