Motivation and accessing care among drug treatment court involved women: A sequential, mixed‐methods approach

Abstract

Drug treatment courts (DTC) address substance use disorders (SUD) but not cooccurrencing HIV or hepatitis C virus (HCV). This pilot explored feasibility and preliminary outcomes of the Women's Initiative Supporting Health (WISH) intervention and health‐related motivation, both based in self‐determination theory (SDT) regarding HIV/HCV and SUD treatment. WISH feasibility study: 79 DTC women completed a one‐time survey regarding motivation and willingness to engage in future interventions. WISH intervention: 22 women from DTC with SUD and HIV or HCV received a 6‐session, peer motivational enhancement health behavior‐oriented interventions. Recruitment strategies were feasible. SDT‐based measures demonstrated internal consistency in this under‐studied population, with perceived competence/autonomy associationed with motivation to reduce HIV/HCV/SUD risk. Women DTC participants indicated acceptance and showed internally consistent results in SDT‐based motivation measures These WISH feasibility and intervention pilot studies lay a foundation for future studies addressing motivation to access healthcare among women DTC participants.