Impact of Access to Recovery services on alcohol/drug treatment outcomes

Krupski, Antoinette; Campbell, Kevin; Joesch, Jutta M.; Lucenko, Barbara A.; Roy-Byrne, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2009.05.007

« PreviousJournal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume 37, Issue 4 , Pages 435-442, December 2009

Impact of Access to Recovery services on alcohol/drug treatment outcomes

Antoinette Krupski, Ph.D.
- Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness and Medically Vulnerable Populations (CHAMMP), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98104-2499, USA
- Corresponding author. Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness and Medically Vulnerable Populations (CHAMMP), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington at Harborview Medical Center, Box 359911, 325 Ninth Ave, Seattle, WA 98104-2499, USA.
Kevin Campbell, Dr.P.H.
- Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Department of Social and Health Services, Olympia, WA, USA
Jutta M. Joesch, Ph.D.
- Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness and Medically Vulnerable Populations (CHAMMP), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98104-2499, USA
Barbara A. Lucenko, Ph.D.
- Research and Data Analysis Division, Department of Social and Health Services, Olympia, WA, USA
Peter Roy-Byrne, M.D.
- Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness and Medically Vulnerable Populations (CHAMMP), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98104-2499, USA

Received 21 February 2009; received in revised form 11 April 2009; accepted 21 May 2009. published online 25 June 2009.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of providing recovery support services to clients receiving publicly funded chemical dependency (CD) treatment through the Access to Recovery (ATR) Program in Washington State. Services included case management, transportation, housing, and medical. A comparison group composed of clients who received CD treatment only was constructed using a multistep procedure based on propensity scores and exact matching on specific variables. Outcomes were obtained from administrative data sources. Results indicated that ATR services were associated with a number of positive outcomes including increased length of stay in treatment, increased likelihood of completing treatment, and increased likelihood of becoming employed. The beneficial effects of ATR services on treatment retention were most pronounced when they were provided between 31 and 180 days after treatment began. The results reported here offer evidence for the value of ATR services.

Keywords: Substance abuse treatment, Outcomes, Treatment retention, Treatment completion, Employment, Access to recovery