BUFFALO, N.Y. – Two University at Buffalo social work researchers have received a $200,000 grant from the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports to test a program that prepares clinicians to integrate recovery capital into care planning for people recovering from substance use disorders (SUDs).

Recovery capital refers to the social, physical, personal and cultural resources that support someone’s recovery from addiction, including, but not limited to, stable housing, supportive relationships, self-esteem, and values that can guide the recovery effort. It’s a holistic approach to recovery that shifts the narrative away from traditional ideas of willpower and motivation.

“We’re always trying to better understand why some people successfully recover from SUDs while others who put in the effort and want to recover, still struggle,” says Elizabeth Bowen, PhD, co-principal investigator and an associate professor in the UB School of Social Work who in 2023 developed the Multidimensional Inventory of Recovery Capital (MIRC) to assess recovery capital among diverse populations on a variety of recovery pathways.

“Recovery capital is among the tools we can use to answer that question,” says Bowen, who is joined on the project by co-principal investigator Jangmin Kim, PhD, an associate professor of social work, and co-investigator Samantha Koury, Ed.D, co-director of the Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care at the School of Social Work.

The MIRC looks directly at recovery capital and not recovery outcomes. There are no questions about drinking, using substances or how often someone might do so.  Bowen says those are important things to ask and track on other types of assessments, but they’re not the focus of the MIRC, which asks only about those resources that might serve someone well in their recovery and how practitioners can help clients build recovery capital.

In partnership with Horizon Health Services, one of the largest providers of outpatient SUD treatment in Western New York, the project will innovatively combine content about recovery capital with training in implementation science, an area of study that moves theory into practice.

“Training usually focuses on teaching an intervention concept, like recovery capital,” says Kim. “The problem is that even though the staff is familiar with the concept, there is little guidance about applying it in the real world.

“Implementation science addresses that gap.”

Jennifer Cervi, an alumna of the UB School of Social Work, and Horizon’s clinical director of integrated services, says the collaboration is an exciting opportunity to break new ground in the area of SUDs.

“Although the addiction treatment field has made significant strides beyond abstinence-based models and outcomes, there remains a need for clinical tools that support this shift,” she says. “The MIRC training and implementation offers a tangible resource to help clinicians translate principles into meaningful therapeutic practice.”

The researchers will randomly assign clinicians at Horizon to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group will receive a seven-hour, in-person training followed by online coaching sessions integrating recovery capital, including how to use the MIRC, with implementation science. After the experimental period, the control group clinicians will receive the same training as their counterparts.

“A benefit of our project is that we are measuring the training impact on both the staff outcomes and the client outcomes,” says Kim. “We can see how the training can improve staff knowledge and skill and how that relates to client outcomes.”

The researchers say there’s a lot of excitement about recovery capital’s potential. All that’s lacking is guidance for clinicians.

“This community partnership between the School of Social Work and Horizon can put us on the forefront of providing that guidance,” says Bowen.