Comparing Outcomes from an Online Substance Abuse Treatment Program and Residential Treatment Programs for Consumers who are Deaf: A Pilot Study

Numerous barriers exist when attempting to provide culturally appropriate substance use disorder (SUD) treatment to persons who are Deaf. As with other low-incidence disabilities, Deaf consumers have traditionally been disenfranchised from local substance abuse programs or found culturally and linguistically accessible treatment lacking. To address these barriers, the Deaf Off Drugs & Alcohol (DODA) Program provides accessible cessation and recovery support services via a telemedicine program to Deaf individuals who are clinically diagnosed with a SUD. This study (n=95) was conducted to assess whether an online SUD treatment program is an effective way to serve the Deaf population.  Effectiveness was analyzed using five outcome measures: the Substance Abuse Screener in American Sign Language, Addiction Severity Index, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory. These measures were administered prior to SUD treatment and six months after SUD treatment began.  The intake and follow-up scores were compared between Deaf individuals enrolled in the online DODA program (n=8) and Deaf individuals receiving SUD services in specialized residential treatment settings (n=87). Significant differences between intake and 6-month follow-up scores for all five outcome measures were found for both the online and residential treatment programs.  In contrast, no significant differences were observed between outcome measures for the online and residential treatment programs. This suggests that the online treatment program may be as effective as the residential treatment programs, and that such programs hold particular promise for improving treatment accessibility for persons with low-incidence disabilities.