Lifestyle redesign program with motivational enhancement for young people with drug use in Hong Kong: a retrospective study

ABSTRACT

Background

Effective lifestyle intervention is essential to promote transition from an addictive life to a drug-free lifestyle. This study retrospectively evaluated the Lifestyle Redesign Program (LRP), a lifestyle intervention featured with motivational enhancement, in promoting drug-free and engaging lifestyle in young drug users in Hong Kong.

Methods

Retrospective observational design with single-group pre-and-post intervention comparison was adopted. Participants were recruited from two residential detoxification centers. Demographics, abstinence information, engagement status, and outcome measures including self-efficacy on drug avoidance, perceived general health and quality of life were collected. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, paired t-test and Spearman’s rank-order correlation.

Results

A total of 86 participants were recruited. Seventy-two of them (83.7%) maintained abstinence for at least 2 months and 64 of them (74.4%) had meaningful engagement in terms of competitive employment or study after completing the LRP. Statistically significant improvements were found in self-efficacy on drug avoidance (t = 8.3, p < .01, d = 0.90), perceived general health (t = 7.4, p < .01, d = 0.79), and overall quality of life (t = 5.4 to 8.3, p < .01, d = 0.59 to 0.89).

Conclusions

The findings provide preliminary evidence that LRP is associated with promoting abstinence and achieving healthy lifestyle for young drug users. More controlled studies are recommended to rigorously examine its effectiveness.

KEYWORDS:

• Lifestyle
• drug use
• abstinence
• motivational interviewing
• stages of change

Aknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the collaborated detoxification centres and all participants for joining the program. We also express sincere appreciation to the Beat Drugs Fund Association of the Narcotics Division, Security Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government for their enduring support on this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The reported project was funded by the grant from the Beat Drugs Fund Association of the Narcotics Division, Security Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government during 2014 to 2017 (Project number: BDF130015). The funding organization had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, analysis and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.