This week, Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Julianne Flanagan about research underway to enhance therapy for veterans with alcohol use problems. Dr. Flanagan is a Professor in the Addiction Sciences Division of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at MUSC and a staff psychologist at the Charleston VA Medical Center.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Research is underway in South Carolina to enhance alcohol treatment for veterans, in part by adding a partner or a family member to the talk therapy sessions. Doctor Julianne Flanagan is here to talk about the details. Doctor Flanagan is a Professor in the Addiction Sciences Division of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at MUSC, and she's a staff psychologist at the Charleston VA Medical Center. Doctor Flanagan, I understand that veterans have a much higher rate of alcohol use problems than the general adult population. Tell us about that.
Dr. Flanagan: That's right. Alcohol use disorder is about twice as common among veterans compared to the general population. And when we look specifically at the VA system, about one out of every six veterans has had an alcohol use disorder diagnosis in their record at some point. It is very common for alcohol problems to emerge during active duty service years, and then they often persist and become worse following separation.
Conner: Tell us about the B-FIT research program geared towards veterans with alcohol problems.
Dr. Flanagan: We are about halfway through this project, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. At the moment, we've enrolled 100 veterans and we'll enroll 100 more. The main goal of this study is to find out if bringing a co-participant into treatment, and when we say co-participant, we mean a spouse or a partner, an adult child, a sibling, a good friend, someone who's close, will help veterans get more from treatment as opposed to doing treatment entirely on their own. So, every veteran gets 12 individual sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy or talk therapy to help them cut down or stop drinking. And half the veterans will get an extra three sessions of brief family involved therapy or B-FIT where the co-participant joins in. All sessions are provided by telehealth, which is important because it means that the veteran and their co-participant don't have to be in the same place at the same time. They can participate from anywhere in the United States.
Conner: Tell us a little more about the importance of having a family member, or even just a close friend, participating in some of these talk therapy sessions with the veteran.
Dr. Flanagan: Well, relationships often become strained with alcohol use disorder, and unhealthy relationship conflict is a common trigger for drinking. But on the other hand, support from family and friends plays a major role in helping people decide to get treatment and be successful in it. And then in turn, these improvements help relationships get stronger, which insulates people from getting back into their heavier drinking habits. So, B-FIT sessions work on things like learning how alcohol has influenced the relationship, how to provide support, and improving communication skills so it's easier to work out disagreements, ask for help, and so on.
Conner: And what has been learned so far from this study, as far as this approach to helping veterans make changes regarding their drinking habits?
Dr. Flanagan: Well, because we are just halfway through the project, we haven't compared the treatment groups yet, but overall retention has been fantastic, meaning that most participants are completing all of their treatment sessions. We've also seen that veterans are reporting drinking much less than when they started.
Conner: Doctor Flanagan, thanks for this update about the B-FIT therapy research regarding veterans.
Dr. Flanagan: Thanks for having me Bobbi.
Conner: From the Radio Studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
