Unlinking disability income, substance use and adverse outcomes in dually diagnosed, severely mentally ill outpatients.
The goals of the current study were to determine whether incorporating disability benefit management into combined outpatient psychiatric/addiction treatment was feasible and clinically useful for managing severely mentally ill, substance-abusing patients over time, and then if patients in this program would demonstrate the first-week-of-the-month increased substance abuse and hospitalizations shown in other studies. Forty-four patients were studied for an average of forty weeks, with little treatment or study dropout. There was no evidence in either the schizophrenic/cocaine abuser or the broader diagnostic sample of the cyclic first-of-the-month pattern of substance use and hospitalizations observed in other studies. Findings suggest that combined treatment/benefit management programs are clinically feasible and effective in stabilizing patients and keeping them in treatment.
Ries
Richard K
RK
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98107, USA. rries@u.washington.edu
Short
Robert A
RA
Dyck
Dennis G
DG
Srebnik
Debra S
DS
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D018868:Insurance, Disability / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019727:Proxy; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome