Building Recovery Capital Collectively: A Comprehensive Program Evaluation Driven by Key Partners with Lived Experience

On average, individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) attempt recovery five times before achieving and sustaining long-term recovery. As the provision of lived experience is a critical component of effective recovery support programs, we must ensure lived experience is central to evaluation of these programs. Kentucky’s Access to Recovery Program (KATR) is a linkage strategy implemented in 2019 that links vulnerable populations in early SUD recovery to self-selected recovery support services (RSSs). In this presentation, we discuss how the social ecological model intentionally informed design of investigative domains for qualitative instruments and analysis to ensure a thorough examination of barriers and facilitators at all levels– from the individual to policy, from the perspectives of program clients and other KATR key partners, many of whom have lived experience. We then share powerful implications of this intentional method on the robust program evaluation findings from the 55 interviews conducted.

Ernest Fletcher, MD – Director and Chief Medical Officer, Fletcher Group, Inc.