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Clinician Practice Companion to Address Youth Substance Use

8 september 2026 bijgewerkt door: Scott Hadland, MD, MPH, MS, Massachusetts General Hospital

Substance use, including the use of opioids, cannabis, and other drugs, is common among adolescents and young adults, and overdose has become a leading cause of death among youth in Canada and the United States. Many young people who use substances also experience co-occurring mental health concerns. Evidence-based approaches to youth substance use care exist, including harm reduction, overdose prevention (such as naloxone and take-home drug testing strips), and medications for addiction treatment. These approaches remain adult-oriented, however, unevenly implemented in youth-serving settings, and insufficiently centered on the needs and goals of youth and their families.

This study develops and pilot tests a written "practice companion" that helps clinicians and other trusted adults provide developmentally appropriate substance use care to youth ages 14 to 24 in hospital and community settings. The practice companion offers practical, easy-to-use guidance organized by substance and by pattern of use. It addresses cannabis and other substances that youth commonly use and that clinicians frequently seek support with, alongside a strong focus on overdose prevention through its core elements: naloxone, take-home drug testing strips, harm reduction education, and medications for opioid use disorder. It also attends to co-occurring mental health needs and to how gender, sexuality, housing instability, and other social and structural contexts shape substance use and care.

The research team will first interview youth who use substances, their families and caregivers, and clinicians to learn how each element of care should be adapted for young people. The team will then produce the practice companion and pilot test it with 60 youth across three sites, in British Columbia, Québec, and Massachusetts. After receiving care guided by the practice companion, youth will complete an interview about whether the care was relevant, useful, appropriate, and acceptable. Families and clinicians will also be interviewed to assess how feasible, sustainable, and faithful to its design the practice companion is in practice.

Throughout the study, the team will work closely with youth and families who have lived experience through a community-based participatory research approach that includes Community Advisory Boards. The work centers equity for Black, Indigenous, and other racialized youth, Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ youth, and youth experiencing housing instability. Findings will guide a larger future study of the practice companion's effectiveness.

Studie Overzicht

Toestand

Nog niet aan het werven

Conditie

Interventie / Behandeling

Gedetailleerde beschrijving

Background and rationale. Substance use, including the use of opioids, cannabis, and other drugs, is common among youth, and overdose has become a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in Canada and the United States. Most youth overdose deaths involve illicitly manufactured fentanyl, and the illicit drug supply is increasingly contaminated with benzodiazepines, xylazine, and other novel substances. Approximately two-thirds of youth with a substance use disorder also experience co-occurring mental health concerns. Evidence-based approaches to youth substance use care, including harm reduction, overdose prevention interventions (naloxone, take-home drug testing strips, and behavioral strategies), and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), remain adult-oriented, unevenly implemented in pediatric and youth-serving settings, and insufficiently centered on the needs and goals of youth and their families. Black, Indigenous, and other racialized youth, Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ youth, and youth experiencing housing instability face additional barriers to care.

Objective. This three-year, community-engaged project adapts evidence-based substance use care and overdose prevention approaches to the developmental needs of youth and combines them into a single, practical, multi-strategy practice companion for clinicians and other trusted adults working in acute (e.g., hospital) and community (e.g., drop-in clinic) settings. Practice companion content is organized by substance and by pattern of use and addresses cannabis and other substances that youth commonly use, in addition to opioids; overdose prevention remains a core component. The practice companion also attends to co-occurring mental health needs and to how gender, sexuality, poverty, and housing instability intersect with substance use and care. The work lays the groundwork for a larger hybrid effectiveness-implementation study of the practice companion.

Conceptual framework. The project follows the ADAPT-ITT implementation science framework, focusing on the Adaptation, Production, and Testing phases, and uses a community-based participatory research approach that centers equity-owed youth and families (biological, adoptive, and chosen) at every stage. Youth and caregivers with lived experience contribute throughout via six Community Advisory Boards (one youth and one caregiver board at each of the three sites).

Objective. Trained clinicians and other providers deliver care via the practice companion to 60 youth (20 per site). After receiving care, youth complete a qualitative exit interview and a brief quantitative survey assessing acceptability. Interviews with 30 caregivers (10 per site) and the 12 practice companion-delivering providers further assess feasibility, sustainability, and fidelity. Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles guide continuous optimization, producing final site-specific versions of the practice companion for a future, larger study.

Sites and settings. British Columbia: BC Children's Hospital and Foundry (a provincial network of integrated youth services centres). Québec: CHU Sainte-Justine (Substance Use and Addiction Program and Gender Diversity Clinic) and the CRCHUM. Massachusetts: the Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic at Mass General Brigham for Children.

Studietype

Ingrijpend

Inschrijving (Geschat)

60

Fase

  • Niet toepasbaar

Contacten en locaties

In dit gedeelte vindt u de contactgegevens van degenen die het onderzoek uitvoeren en informatie over waar dit onderzoek wordt uitgevoerd.

Studiecontact

Studie Contact Back-up

Studie Locaties

  • Canada
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6H 3N1
        • BC Children's Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Telefoonnummer: 604-875-2345
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Quebec
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1C5
        • CHU Sainte-Justine
        • Contact:
          • Telefoonnummer: 514-345-4931
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2X 0A9
        • Centre de Recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM)
        • Contact:
          • Telefoonnummer: 514-890-8000
  • Verenigde Staten
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, Verenigde Staten, 02114
        • Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Mass General Brigham for Children
        • Contact:
          • Telefoonnummer: 617-643-1201

Deelname Criteria

Onderzoekers zoeken naar mensen die aan een bepaalde beschrijving voldoen, de zogenaamde geschiktheidscriteria. Enkele voorbeelden van deze criteria zijn iemands algemene gezondheidstoestand of eerdere behandelingen.

Geschiktheidscriteria

Leeftijden die in aanmerking komen voor studie

  • Kind
  • Volwassen

Accepteert gezonde vrijwilligers

Ja

Beschrijving

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Ages 14 to 24 years.
  • Uses drugs or alcohol (past year).
  • Receiving care at a participating study site.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitive limitations or intellectual disabilities that prevent provision of informed consent.
  • Any medical or psychiatric condition causing acute distress or requiring emergency evaluation.
  • Current membership on a study Community Advisory Board.

Studie plan

Dit gedeelte bevat details van het studieplan, inclusief hoe de studie is opgezet en wat de studie meet.

Hoe is de studie opgezet?

Ontwerpdetails

  • Primair doel: Onderzoek naar gezondheidsdiensten
  • Toewijzing: NVT
  • Interventioneel model: Opdracht voor een enkele groep
  • Masker: Geen (open label)

Wapens en interventies

Deelnemersgroep / Arm
Interventie / Behandeling
Experimenteel: Practice Companion
Youth ages 14 to 24 who use substances receive developmentally appropriate substance use care from a clinician (or other trained provider) using the practice companion. Depending on individual needs, the provider offers guidance across the practice companion's elements, including overdose prevention (naloxone, take-home drug testing strips, harm reduction education, and medications for addiction treatment), support around cannabis and other substance use, and attention to co-occurring mental health, delivered through non-stigmatizing, youth- and family-centered scripts and referral guidance.
Gedragsmatig: Practice Companion
A written, multi-strategy practice companion that guides clinicians and other trusted adults in acute and community settings to deliver developmentally appropriate substance use care to youth. Content is organized by substance and by pattern of use. It includes scripts for initiating non-stigmatizing conversations and guidance and referrals for connecting youth and families to care, spanning cannabis and other substance use, overdose prevention as a core component (naloxone, take-home drug testing strips, harm reduction education, and medications for opioid use disorder), and co-occurring mental health needs. The practice companion is youth- and family-centered and attends to how gender, sexuality, poverty, and housing instability intersect with substance use. Site-specific adaptations are provided for the British Columbia, Québec, and Massachusetts settings.

Wat meet het onderzoek?

Primaire uitkomstmaten

Uitkomstmaat
Maatregel Beschrijving
Tijdsspanne
Mean Score on the Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Survey
Tijdsspanne: Within 1 to 2 weeks after receipt of practice companion-based care
Youth-reported acceptability of care received via the practice companion, measured with the ECHO Survey, a validated patient-reported experience measure, administered after receipt of practice companion-based care.
Within 1 to 2 weeks after receipt of practice companion-based care
Number of Youth Reporting the Practice Companion as Acceptable, Relevant, Useful, and Appropriate
Tijdsspanne: Within 1 to 2 weeks after receipt of practice companion-based care
Themes on the relevance, usefulness, appropriateness, and overall acceptability of practice companion content and delivery, derived from semi-structured qualitative exit interviews with youth following receipt of care via the practice companion.
Within 1 to 2 weeks after receipt of practice companion-based care

Secundaire uitkomstmaten

Uitkomstmaat
Maatregel Beschrijving
Tijdsspanne
Number of Providers and Caregivers Reporting the Practice Companion as Feasible to Deliver
Tijdsspanne: Through completion of pilot testing (approximately 18 months)
Themes on the feasibility of delivering the practice companion in acute and community care settings, from qualitative interviews with caregivers and practice companion-delivering clinicians.
Through completion of pilot testing (approximately 18 months)
Number of Providers Reporting the Practice Companion as Sustainable to Deliver
Tijdsspanne: Through completion of pilot testing (approximately 18 months)
Themes on the sustainability of practice companion delivery, from qualitative interviews with clinicians and Community Advisory Board input.
Through completion of pilot testing (approximately 18 months)
Percentage of Practice Companion Fidelity Checklist Items Delivered as Intended
Tijdsspanne: Through completion of pilot testing (approximately 18 months)
Fidelity of practice companion delivery, assessed by intervention-delivering clinicians using a standardized fidelity checklist reviewed at 3-to-4-month intervals.
Through completion of pilot testing (approximately 18 months)

Andere uitkomstmaten

Uitkomstmaat
Maatregel Beschrijving
Tijdsspanne
Number of Substance Use Days Reported on the Timeline Follow-Back Interview
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (at the pilot-test visit)
Self-reported substance use patterns measured with the Timeline Follow-Back interview.
Baseline (at the pilot-test visit)
Number of Participants Reporting an Overdose in the Past 3 Months
Tijdsspanne: Baseline (at the pilot-test visit)
Self-reported overdose experiences in the past 3 months.
Baseline (at the pilot-test visit)

Medewerkers en onderzoekers

Hier vindt u mensen en organisaties die betrokken zijn bij dit onderzoek.

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

Medewerkers

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
University of British Columbia
Boston Medical Center
Université de Montréal
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine (CHU-SJ) (University of Montreal)

Onderzoekers

  • Hoofdonderzoeker: Danya Fast, PhD, University of British Columbia
  • Studie directeur: Scott E Hadland, MD, MPH, MS, Mass General Brigham for Children
  • Studie directeur: Nicholas Chadi, MD, MPH, Université de Montréal / CHU Sainte-Justine

Publicaties en nuttige links

De persoon die verantwoordelijk is voor het invoeren van informatie over het onderzoek stelt deze publicaties vrijwillig ter beschikking. Dit kan gaan over alles wat met het onderzoek te maken heeft.

Algemene publicaties

Studie record data

Deze datums volgen de voortgang van het onderzoeksdossier en de samenvatting van de ingediende resultaten bij ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieverslagen en gerapporteerde resultaten worden beoordeeld door de National Library of Medicine (NLM) om er zeker van te zijn dat ze voldoen aan specifieke kwaliteitscontrolenormen voordat ze op de openbare website worden geplaatst.

Bestudeer belangrijke data

Studie start (Geschat)

1 januari 2027

Primaire voltooiing (Geschat)

1 december 2029

Studie voltooiing (Geschat)

1 december 2029

Studieregistratiedata

Eerst ingediend

20 juli 2026

Eerst ingediend dat voldeed aan de QC-criteria

21 juli 2026

Eerst geplaatst (Werkelijk)

24 juli 2026

Updates van studierecords

Laatste update geplaatst (Werkelijk)

9 september 2026

Laatste update ingediend die voldeed aan QC-criteria

8 september 2026

Laatst geverifieerd

1 september 2026

Meer informatie

Termen gerelateerd aan deze studie

Trefwoorden

Aanvullende relevante MeSH-voorwaarden

Andere studie-ID-nummers

  • 2024p003521
  • R34DA062280 (Subsidie/contract van de Amerikaanse NIH)
  • PJT-205890 (Ander subsidie-/financieringsnummer: Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

Plan Individuele Deelnemersgegevens (IPD)

Bent u van plan om gegevens van individuele deelnemers (IPD) te delen?

JA

Beschrijving IPD-plan

De-identified individual participant quantitative data (e.g., survey and Timeline Follow-Back data) will be shared. Qualitative interview transcripts will not be shared, given the risk of re-identification within this small population of youth who use substances.

IPD-tijdsbestek voor delen

Beginning after overall study completion, with no fixed end date.

IPD-toegangscriteria voor delen

Open access. The de-identified quantitative dataset and supporting documents will be posted in a publicly accessible data repository.

IPD delen Ondersteunend informatietype

  • LEERPROTOCOOL
  • ICF

Informatie over medicijnen en apparaten, studiedocumenten

Bestudeert een door de Amerikaanse FDA gereguleerd geneesmiddel

Nee

Bestudeert een door de Amerikaanse FDA gereguleerd apparaatproduct

Nee

Deze informatie is zonder wijzigingen rechtstreeks van de website clinicaltrials.gov gehaald. Als u verzoeken heeft om uw onderzoeksgegevens te wijzigen, te verwijderen of bij te werken, neem dan contact op met register@clinicaltrials.gov. Zodra er een wijziging wordt doorgevoerd op clinicaltrials.gov, wordt deze ook automatisch bijgewerkt op onze website .

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