The Impact of Alternative Social Assistance Disbursement on Drug-related Harm (TASA)

University of British Columbia

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Drug Use

Treatments: Other: cheque divided into two equal disbursements; Other: Non-synchronized social assistance receipt

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02457949

H14-02401

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluates whether altering the timing and frequency of social assistance disbursement reduces drug related-harms that increase on the days surrounding monthly synchronized government social assistance cheque issue.

Full description

Coordinated monthly income assistance payments, while seeking to alleviate poverty, can also have negative and unintended impacts, particularly among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD). Observational research has identified escalations in drug-related harm coinciding with monthly assistance payments, such as overdose, treatment interruption, hospital admissions and public disorder. This project varies the timing and frequency of income assistance disbursement, and evaluates whether varying income assistance disbursement reduces drug-related harm coinciding with coordinated income assistance.

Conducted among 273 PWUD, participants will be allocated for 6 income assistance cycles to a control or one of two intervention arms. Participants in the control arm will receive payments according to the existing monthly government schedule. Participants in the intervention arm will receive their income assistance: (1) monthly on a day different from government cheque issue; or (2) semi-monthly on days different from government cheque issue. The intervention will be evaluated using qualitative and quantitative methods for its impact on drug use and related harms.

Enrollment: 194 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 19 to 64 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• be ≥19 years of age or older
• reside in greater Vancouver, Canada
• report regular use of illicit drugs other than cannabis
• receive monthly provincial income assistance
• are not currently administered (where cheque issue/money is externally managed)
• be eligible and willing to be a client of the local credit union who will administer the intervention
• report intensified drug use around government cheque issue days
• provide written informed consent
• be willing to comply with study procedures

Exclusion criteria

• plan to relocate outside Vancouver
• have plans to discontinue income assistance

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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194 participants in 3 patient groups

Treatment As Usual (TAU)

No Intervention group

Description:

Receipt of social assistance on government cheque issue days for 6 income assistance cycles (approx 26 weeks).

Staggered Arm

Experimental group

Description:

Receipt of social assistance once monthly on a randomly assigned day that does not fall during the week of government cheque issue (Non-synchronized social assistance receipt), for 6 income assistance cycles (approx 26 weeks).

Treatment:

Other: Non-synchronized social assistance receipt

Staggered and Split Arm

Experimental group

Description:

Receipt of social assistance twice monthly on equally spaced randomly assigned days that do not fall during the week of government cheque issue (Non-synchronized social assistance receipt, cheque divided into two equal disbursements), for 6 income assistance cycles (approx 26 weeks).

Treatment:

Other: Non-synchronized social assistance receipt

Other: cheque divided into two equal disbursements