Alcohol Use DisorderUPWARD D-RSSNCT07724275
Understanding Pathways to Wellness and Recovery in Detroit - Digital Recovery Support Services
A study testing Digital recovery support services in people with Alcohol Use Disorder and Recovery Outcomes, run by Brandeis University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if digital recovery support services (such as smartphone app) help to support alcohol recovery. We focus on a community of Black and African American people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who receive in-person recovery support services from a recovery community center. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Alcohol Use Disorder, Recovery Outcomes, Digital Health
- What is being tested?
- Digital recovery support services
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 65 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 13 Jun 2026to May 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Able to communicate in English and read at an 8th grade reading level.
- Able to read and sign an informed consent form.
- Comfortable with smartphone technology or willing and able to learn.
- Identify as Black or African American.
- Is an adult over the age of 18.
- Is in recovery from alcohol problems for at least 3 months and no more than 5 years.
- Is receiving in-person recovery support services at our partner recovery community center at the time of screening and enrollment.
- Willing to receive and respond to weekly texts with a survey link for brief assessments, and complete two in-person research assessments (baseline and 13-week).
Who cannot join
- Does not meet inclusion criteria
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Detroit Recovery Project
Detroit, Michigan, 48208
Research Manager, 313-365-3100 ext. 355, upwardproject@brandeis.edu
Senior Project Manager, 781-736-8657, ahildebrandt@brandeis.edu
About this study
Official title: UPWARD Study RCT of Digital Recovery Support Services (D-RSS) Among a Black Population in Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorders
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if digital recovery support services (such as smartphone app) help to support alcohol recovery. We focus on a community of Black and African American people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who receive in-person recovery support services from a recovery community center.
Participants will:
- Have an initial 2-hour in-person visit with the research team. During this visit, participants will be asked about themselves and their recovery from alcohol problems. They will also learn about digital recovery resources.
- Use digital recovery resources on their own for 12 weeks.
- Complete a short, weekly survey about their experience using digital recovery resources.
- Have a follow-up 1-hour in-person visit where the researcher asks about again about the participants, their recovery and how they felt about using the digital recovery support services.
Read the detailed description
See study Detailed Protocol in Study Documents.
- Conditions
- Alcohol Use Disorder, Recovery Outcomes, Digital Health
- Being tested
- Digital recovery support services
- Keywords
- alcohol use disorder, recovery, digital recovery support services, Black population, African American population
- Medical subject headings
- Alcoholism
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Digital recovery support servicesBehavioural
Also called DRSS, Digital RSS, Smartphone apps
The primary intervention is the provision of a menu of digital recovery support services (D-RSS) to participants, along with a phone and data plan (if needed) and technical assistance. We have created a menu of D-RSS options that have been vetted by our team as appropriate for a range of recovery goals (e.g., manage emotions, track sobriety, connect with others) and for a range of technological literacy, as well as being culturally relevant or at minimum culturally agnostic. Types of D-RSS presented to participants include mobile applications, websites, and video playlists, all of which relate to and support addiction recovery. Participants also may use other D-RSS that they identify.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| TAU + DRSS | Experimental | At the initial in-person visit, participants will complete a structured interview of baseline assessments and will be provided with a menu of digital recovery support services (D-RSS) to participants, technical assistance, and a phone and data plan (if needed). The research team will discuss the D-RSS menu with the participants and guide them through app installation and use. Following the initial visit, it is up to the participants to engage with the D-RSS. We will send a text survey 1 week after the visit, and each week thereafter for 12 weeks, that assesses their engagement with in-person recovery supports, D-RSS, and their current recovery status. The 3-month visit will be scheduled in the week following the last (week 12) text survey, at which participants will meet with research staff for a final in-person assessment. Receives: Behavioral: Digital recovery support services |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Usability and Acceptability of D-RSS
We include a module consisting of 20 items measuring usability and acceptability on a 4-point Likert scale (strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree). These items were selected from several sources, so do not have a pre-existing scale; we will consider whether a scale is appropriate by examining inter-item correlations and Cronbach's alphas for potentially conceptually similar subsets of items.
Measured: At the end of the trial (13 weeks)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted24 Jul 2026
- Study start13 Jun 2026
- Primary completionDec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionMay 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Alcohol Use DisorderStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Model description
- All participants will be introduced to a menu of digital recovery services, and will be asked to engage with them over the course of the 12-week trial. We will track the level of engagement and types of digital recovery services used, if any, for analytic purposes. Participants who require a phone or data plan will have access provided through the study.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 65 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Brandeis University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Detroit Recovery Project INC
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Sharon Reif, Brandeis University
- Investigators
- Sharon Reif, PhD, Principal investigator, Brandeis University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07724275
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 22126R
- Other IDs
- R01AA029817
- Acronym
- UPWARD D-RSS
- Status last verified
- Jul 2026
- First submitted
- 20 Jul 2026
- Last updated
- 24 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: All data from the trial will be shared via the NIAAA data archive.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 24 Jul 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- UPWARD Study RCT of Digital Recovery Support Services (D-RSS) Among a Black Population in Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorders
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07724275
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- UPWARD D-RSS / 22126R
- Conditions
- Alcohol Use Disorder, Recovery Outcomes, Digital Health
- Keywords
- alcohol use disorder, recovery, digital recovery support services, Black population, African American population
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 65 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Brandeis UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Detroit Recovery Project INC
- Study start
- 13 Jun 2026 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- May 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 24 Jul 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if digital recovery support services (such as smartphone app) help to support alcohol recovery. We focus on a community of Black and African American people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who receive in-person recovery support services from a recovery community center.
Participants will:
- Have an initial 2-hour in-person visit with the research team. During this visit, participants will be asked about themselves and their recovery from alcohol problems. They will also learn about digital recovery resources.
- Use digital recovery resources on their own for 12 weeks.
- Complete a short, weekly survey about their experience using digital recovery resources.
- Have a follow-up 1-hour in-person visit where the researcher asks about again about the participants, their recovery and how they felt about using the digital recovery support services.
Detailed description
See study Detailed Protocol in Study Documents.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
- Model description
- All participants will be introduced to a menu of digital recovery services, and will be asked to engage with them over the course of the 12-week trial. We will track the level of engagement and types of digital recovery services used, if any, for analytic purposes. Participants who require a phone or data plan will have access provided through the study.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| TAU + DRSS | Experimental | Behavioral: Digital recovery support servicesAt the initial in-person visit, participants will complete a structured interview of baseline assessments and will be provided with a menu of digital recovery support services (D-RSS) to participants, technical assistance, and a phone and data plan (if needed). The research team will discuss the D-RSS menu with the participants and guide them through app installation and use. Following the initial visit, it is up to the participants to engage with the D-RSS. We will send a text survey 1 week after the visit, and each week thereafter for 12 weeks, that assesses their engagement with in-person recovery supports, D-RSS, and their current recovery status. The 3-month visit will be scheduled in the week following the last (week 12) text survey, at which participants will meet with research staff for a final in-person assessment. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (8 listed)
- Able to communicate in English and read at an 8th grade reading level.
- Able to read and sign an informed consent form.
- Comfortable with smartphone technology or willing and able to learn.
- Identify as Black or African American.
- Is an adult over the age of 18.
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Does not meet inclusion criteria
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Digital recovery support servicesAlso: DRSS, Digital RSS, Smartphone appsThe primary intervention is the provision of a menu of digital recovery support services (D-RSS) to participants, along with a phone and data plan (if needed) and technical assistance. We have created a menu of D-RSS options that have been vetted by our team as appropriate for a range of recovery goals (e.g., manage emotions, track sobriety, connect with others) and for a range of technological literacy, as well as being culturally relevant or at minimum culturally agnostic. Types of D-RSS presented to participants include mobile applications, websites, and video playlists, all of which relate to and support addiction recovery. Participants also may use other D-RSS that they identify. | Behavioural | TAU + DRSS |
Primary outcome
Usability and Acceptability of D-RSS
Time frame: At the end of the trial (13 weeks)
We include a module consisting of 20 items measuring usability and acceptability on a 4-point Likert scale (strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree). These items were selected from several sources, so do not have a pre-existing scale; we will consider whether a scale is appropriate by examining inter-item correlations and Cronbach's alphas for potentially conceptually similar subsets of items.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 24 Jul 2026.
- Understanding Pathways to Wellness and Alcohol Recovery in Detroit (UPWARD) Digital Recovery Resources Study websiteLink provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. All data from the trial will be shared via the NIAAA data archive.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Sharon Reif, PhD principal investigator
Brandeis University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Digital recovery support services in people with Alcohol Use Disorder and Recovery Outcomes, run by Brandeis University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 24 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Audrey Hildebrandt (781-736-8657, ahildebrandt@brandeis.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Usability and Acceptability of D-RSS (time frame: At the end of the trial (13 weeks)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 24 Jul 2026.