Relationship between Referral Source and Outcomes within a Co-Occurring Disorders Integrated Treatment Program
Abstract
The purpose of this initiative is to provide integrated services for homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders. Integrating both mental health and substance abuse services into one treatment setting has proven superior to a parallel approach and has shown increasing promise for keeping nonviolent offenders from cycling in and out of jail. Twenty-five clients were admitted into a six-month residential program and received integrated treatment that included psychiatric and addiction services, case management, and aftercare services. Repeated measures analyses of variance demonstrated that clients improved significantly on both substance use and mental health symptomatology. At baseline, participants reported using illicit drugs an average of 3.16 days during the past month compared to 0.16 days at six-month follow-up, F (1, 24) = 5.4, p < .05. Concerning mental health, at baseline clients averaged 1.24 on the BSI Global Severity Index, compared to 0.72 at follow-up, F (1, 24) = 12.5 , p < .01. Further analyses revealed a significant relationship between referral source and adherence. At follow-up, a significantly greater proportion of clients who were court ordered into treatment reported abstaining from substance use (93%), compared to clients who were self-referred (50%), X 2 (1, N=25) = 6.34, p < .05. These results underscore the effectiveness of integrated services and suggest that abstinence can be obtained among clients referred from the corrections system. Diverting such individuals from the criminal justice system to community-based treatment appears to be a promising strategy for improving the lives of individual non-violent offenders. The purpose of this initiative is to provide integrated services for homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders. Integrating both mental health and substance abuse services into one treatment setting has proven superior to a parallel approach and has shown increasing promise for keeping nonviolent offenders from cycling in and out of jail. Twenty-five clients were admitted into a six-month residential program and received integrated treatment that included psychiatric and addiction services, case management, and aftercare services. Repeated measures analyses of variance demonstrated that clients improved significantly on both substance use and mental health symptomatology. At baseline, participants reported using illicit drugs an average of 3.16 days during the past month compared to 0.16 days at six-month follow-up, F (1, 24) = 5.4, p < .05. Concerning mental health, at baseline clients averaged 1.24 on the BSI Global Severity Index, compared to 0.72 at follow-up, F (1, 24) = 12.5 , p < .01. Further analyses revealed a significant relationship between referral source and adherence. At follow-up, a significantly greater proportion of clients who were court ordered into treatment reported abstaining from substance use (93%), compared to clients who were self-referred (50%), X 2 (1, N=25) = 6.34, p < .05. These results underscore the effectiveness of integrated services and suggest that abstinence can be obtained among clients referred from the corrections system. Diverting such individuals from the criminal justice system to community-based treatment appears to be a promising strategy for improving the lives of individual non-violent offenders. The purpose of this initiative is to provide integrated services for homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders. Integrating both mental health and substance abuse services into one treatment setting has proven superior to a parallel approach and has shown increasing promise for keeping nonviolent offenders from cycling in and out of jail. Twenty-five clients were admitted into a six-month residential program and received integrated treatment that included psychiatric and addiction services, case management, and aftercare services. Repeated measures analyses of variance demonstrated that clients improved significantly on both substance use and mental health symptomatology. At baseline, participants reported using illicit drugs an average of 3.16 days during the past month compared to 0.16 days at six-month follow-up, F (1, 24) = 5.4, p < .05. Concerning mental health, at baseline clients averaged 1.24 on the BSI Global Severity Index, compared to 0.72 at follow-up, F (1, 24) = 12.5 , p < .01. Further analyses revealed a significant relationship between referral source and adherence. At follow-up, a significantly greater proportion of clients who were court ordered into treatment reported abstaining from substance use (93%), compared to clients who were self-referred (50%), X 2 (1, N=25) = 6.34, p < .05. These results underscore the effectiveness of integrated services and suggest that abstinence can be obtained among clients referred from the corrections system. Diverting such individuals from the criminal justice system to community-based treatment appears to be a promising strategy for improving the lives of individual non-violent offenders.
