Facebook Is Addictive, But Now It's Being Used To Treat Addicts

In the wake of a recent White House announcement that the Obama administration would be bolstering efforts to combat prescription opioid and heroin addiction in the U.S., one organization is using social media to help gay men combat HIV. But can it be used to combat the opioid epidemic?

The idea behind founder and psychologist Sean Young’s HOPE (Harnessing Online Peer Education) intervention is to harness the reach and power of social networks like Facebook Inc FB toward improving public health. What’s particularly interesting about this plan is its approach: instead of replacing opioids (strong painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin) with less harmful clinical alternatives, HOPE seeks to change the behavior in opioid addicts.

For the pilot project, which will begin later this month, Young, the executive director of the University of California Institute for Prediction Technology, will recruit approximately 60 patients with chronic pain that are being treated long-term with opioids, and that also exhibit other behaviors that make them especially prone to addiction.

Related Link: Opioid Addiction: What To Do When A Loved One Is Hooked, According To Science

Participants will be asked to log into a private Facebook group, where they can share their experiences both to group members and one-on-one. Also included in this group will be eight peer role models (also on long-term opioid therapy), who are expected to share tips, as well as the successes and challenges they’ve experienced in managing pain, the ScienceMag article explained.

The idea behind this study is to assess if this type of intervention is both helpful and user-friendly for the patients. Previous experiences suggest it is. For instance, Young’s pilot test for HIV in Peru proved that the homosexual men who participated in the trial were two to three times more likely to get tested for HIV than those in the control group, who participated in online groups without peer role models. ScienceMag also reported that participants found the community to be a safe place to communicate, and some of the online relationships continued after the trial concluded.

“If the correct psychological fundamentals are applied to a social media intervention, then it will have an impact on behavior… We should take advantage of existing platforms that have proven to cause behavior change—and cause it rather quickly—and can instantly reach billions of people,” Young said in the article.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.