The overall goal of the proposed research and development program (Phases I and II) is to develop innovative techniques for assessing drug and alcohol abuse in industry. Improved assessment techniques would be especially helpful to organizations in three areas of substance-abuse programming: (1) needs assessment, estimating the prevalence and nature of drug and alcohol abuse among employees; (2) identification of individuals with drug or alcohol problems; and (3) monitoring and evaluation of drug and alcohol program efforts. Currently, techniques are not well-developed, especially in the area of drug abuse assessment. During Phase I, exploratory research would be conducted on techniques for addressing each of these three broad functions. Techniques to be considered include observational methods, instruments (inventories, checklists, questionnaires, etc.), records-based methods, instruments (inventories, checklists, questionnaires, etc.), records-based methods, interview techniques, and chemical assay methods. Current approaches and trends in assessment techniques will be reviewed to identify promising approaches for further development, and the development of innovative techniques in each assessment category will be explored. Based upon the technical quality and feasibility of these techniques, a research and development plan for Phase II will be constructed. In addition, a preliminary estimate will be made of the commercial viability of the assessment techniques. The main objectives of Phase I are as follows: (1) review current techniques and promising approaches for the assessment, identification, and monitoring of drug and alcohol abuse in industry; (2) conduct exploratory development of innovative drug and alcohol abuse assessment techniques, with a particular emphasis on drug abuse; (3) develop a research and development strategy for Phase II; and (4) estimate the commercial viability of improved drug and alcohol abuse techniques.
