 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Constance M. Horgan, ScD1, Sharon Reif, PhD1, Gail Strickler, MA2, Grant A. Ritter, PhD1, and Margaret T. Lee, PhD1. (1) Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, MS 035, Waltham, MA 02454, (2) Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, MS 035, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02454-9110
Self-help participation has been shown to be beneficial in attaining and maintaining abstinence following substance abuse treatment. The anonymous nature of self-help programs, however, reduces the ability to learn about who participates. Such information would allow treatment facilities to address potential reasons for non-participation in self-help, in order to enhance post-discharge support systems, as one point of self-help is to develop and reinforce a lifestyle change that is necessary to maintain abstinence. Client follow-up and treatment record data from the SAMHSA-funded nationally representative Alcohol and Drug Services Study (ADSS) allow an examination not only of which clients attend self-help during treatment and following treatment, but also the frequency of participation, and the number of months in which self-help was attended. Results from ADSS show that 44% of discharged outpatient clients reported attending any self-help program at least once since discharge, with 40% attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), 4% Cocaine Anonymous (CA), 16% Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and 2% other self-help groups. Residential clients had higher levels of self-help attendance following discharge: 57% attended any self-help, 52% AA, 6% CA, 28% NA, and 3% other. Multiple regression analyses are used to predict whether a client attends self-help, whether they go to more than one self-help meeting, and the frequency of participation. Independent variables include client demographic and background characteristics, substance use, treatment characteristics and services, self-help participation before and during treatment, post-discharge status (such as substance use and criminal activity), and characteristics of the treatment facility. Implications of the findings will be discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Substance Abuse,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.