Month: May 2021

As part of the 22nd congress of students, trainees and residents of the CRCHUM on May 6th, come learn about the most recent work happening in our laboratory during presentations by Ovidiu Tatar, Sarah Drouin and Florence Morissette. Through his poster, Ovidiu will reveal the details of his qualitative study on preferences for technology-based psychotherapeutic interventions, the result of focus groups with clinicians and patients with a first psychotic episode and with cannabis use disorder. Sarah will present her poster on vulnerability to cannabis-related harms by sources of supply, such as the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC). Finally, Florence will explain the anti-inflammatory effects of cannabidiol seen in individuals with a cocaine use disorder. Events not to be missed!

This month, Ovidiu, PhD student, shares the results of a recently published study aiming at exploring patient and clinician opinions related to the use of technology-based psychological interventions (e.g., smart phone app) for decreasing cannabis use. Discussions with 10 young adults with first episode psychosis and cannabis use disorder and 10 clinicians revealed important factors that should be addressed to increase the acceptability of technology-based psychological interventions. These factors include patient treatment needs (e.g., stress reduction, higher cannabis knowledge), psychological interventions considered effective by clinicians (e.g., motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioural therapy), specific needs from the application (e.g., communication, informational videos, logbook to monitor cannabis use), etc. This study is novel in that it encourages a collaborative approach to treatment by including both patient and clinician opinions and preferences. We encourage you to read and share the article available in Journal of Medical Internet Research Formative Research.