title: A day treatment program in a therapeutic community setting: six-month outcomes. The Walden House Day Treatment Program.
abstract: Although not well represented in the literature, day treatment programs targeting substance abuse problems have increased in both number and acceptability in recent years. This article reports on a day treatment program based on the Therapeutic Community (TC), and on outcomes for a sample of substance abuse clients (n = 66) entering the program. Participants were interviewed early in treatment and 6 months after admission using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and other measures. Clients entering day treatment were demographically diverse, with serious substance-abuse problems and psychiatric morbidity. Median retention in day treatment was about 5 weeks, but many clients received a contiguous episode of residential treatment, so that the median for total time in treatment was 18 weeks. Clients located and interviewed at 6-month follow-up (n = 38) showed significant improvement in alcohol and drug use, legal and social problems, and psychiatric symptoms. Findings suggest that day treatment can be used effectively as a precursor to residential treatment and that some clients applying for residential treatment can be treated effectively in day treatment alone.
authors: Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Guydish
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Werdegar
authors: J L
authors: JL
authors: Sorensen
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Clark
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Acampora
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013808:Therapeutic Community; D016896:Treatment Outcome