title: Examining the pathways for young people with drug and alcohol dependence: a mixed-method design to examine the role of a treatment programme.
abstract: Young people with drug and alcohol problems are likely to have poorer health and other psychosocial outcomes than other young people. Residential treatment programmes have been shown to lead to improved health and related outcomes for young people in the short term. There is very little robust research showing longer term outcomes or benefits of such programmes. This paper describes an innovative protocol to examine the longer term outcomes and experiences of young people referred to a residential life management and treatment programme in Australia designed to address alcohol and drug issues in a holistic manner.
  
  
  
  This is a mixed-methods study that will retrospectively and prospectively examine young people's pathways into and out of a residential life management programme. The study involves 3 components: (1) retrospective data linkage of programme data to health and criminal justice administrative data sets, (2) prospective cohort (using existing programme baseline data and a follow-up survey) and (3) qualitative in-depth interviews with a subsample of the prospective cohort. The study will compare findings among young people who are referred and (a) stay 30 days or more in the programme (including those who go on to continuing care and those who do not); (b) start, but stay fewer than 30 days in the programme; (c) are assessed, but do not start the programme.
  
  
  
  Ethics approval has been sought from several ethics committees including a university ethics committee, state health departments and an Aboriginal-specific ethics committee. The results of the study will be published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at research conferences, disseminated via a report for the general public and through Facebook communications. The study will inform the field more broadly about the value of different methods in evaluating programmes and examining the pathways and trajectories of vulnerable young people.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nathan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rawstorne
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hayen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, School of Social Sciences, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baldry
authors.affiliation: Ted Noffs Foundation, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferry
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Research, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shanahan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Ranmalie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jayasinha
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D001315:Australia; D003415:Crime / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D011446:Prospective Studies; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012107:Research Design; D012114:Residential Treatment / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Drug and alcohol; Mixed-methods study design; Program evaluation; Residential treatment program; Young people