(PS13-A24) Feasibility and Acceptability of Telemedicine Workforce Retention for Substance Use Providers

Despite encouraging findings for telehealth psychotherapy more generally, few studies have evaluated therapist interpersonal skills in teletherapy interventions (Reese et al., 2016; Norwood et al., 2018), even though they are excellent predictors of intervention outcomes (Anderson et al., 2016). Training providers in Motivational Interviewing (MI) has been linked to a reduction in burnout and enhancement of counselor’s internal resources (Pollak et al., 2016). Building on published, evidence-based training studies using in-person instruction to improve MI skills (Miller et al., 2004; Moyers, et al., 2009), this study created and evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of an online training course for telehealth therapists treating substance use disorders.  

Therapists (n=40, M_age=43; 48% Caucasian, 71% female) attended a virtual training that contained didactic lectures, videotaped examples of MI and group learning exercises (didactic, roleplay, and demonstration). The 12-hour training covered interpersonal skills relevant to substance use treatment: evoking client values, empathy, responding to resistance, and genuineness.

Acceptability and feasibility were measured post-training using the Acceptability of Intervention (AIM) and Feasibility of Intervention (FIM) measures (Weiner et al., 2017). Each is a 9-item self-report on a scale of 1-5, yielding an average score. Higher scores indicate higher acceptability and feasibility. Therapist interpersonal skills (percent open question, ratio of reflection to question, and confrontation) demonstrated in a standardized patient interview pre and post training will be measured using behavior counts yielded by the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) code 4.2 (Moyers et al., 2003; Moyers et al., 2005; Houck et al., 2013).

Therapists (n=39) reported 4.4 (SD=.7) acceptability, and 4.4 feasibility (SD=.5). Pre-post training standardized patient interviews will be examined, as well as self-reported burnout at 6-month follow up. A greater reduction in self-reported burnout is predicted to be correlated with training completion.