University of California Los Angeles (Department of Family Medicine)

The Quit Using Drugs Intervention Trial (QUIT) is a 3-year National Institute of Drug Abuse funded study to expand a very brief intervention protocol to low-income casual users of stimulant drugs (methamphetamine, cocaine, crack, ecstacy). The model is tested in the primary care settings throughout Los Angeles County. The study focuses on casual nondependent users of stimulants and attempts to interrupt the progression to addiction and dependence through early intervention (screening, brief physician advice, health educator brief intervention to encourage opportunities for healthy behavior). The NIDA-QUIT project is located in four large safety net clinic systems throughout Los Angeles County: the Downtown Center for Community Health, the Venice Family Clinics, Saban Free Clinics, and Queenscare Family Clinics. The project utilizes a specially-trained QUIT screening team, primary care providers at the clinics, and skilled QUIT health educators to serve 480 patients. It incorporates new processes for screening, brief physician advice and brief health educator intervention in large primary care safety net clinics. The QUIT team uses the World Health Organization ASSIST(WHO-ASSIST) to screen for casual at-risk stimulant use disorders, primary care physicians briefly advise the patients on the health and biomedical consequences of their use, and qualified health educators provide two-brief 30 minute intervention sessions addressing opportunities to stop or reduce stimulant use activities and engage in healthier behaviors. QUIT services include: • Screening--Initial WHO-ASSIST screens [by skilled QUIT Screening Team] to identify at-risk persons and overall prevalence in primary care safety net clinic settings. • Brief Advice--one-time physician intervention--short consultation and literature • Brief Intervention-two-short 15-minute health educator motivational sessions to encourage opportunities for healthy behaviors. • Referral to Resources--casual users receive referrals to specialized services and case management from providers in the county.