Substance Abuse Self-Help Group Referral: Outcome and Services Use

Background:

Self-help groups (SHGs) have become an important component of the system of care for patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). SUD patients' participation in SHGs has been linked to lower relapse rates and less use of additional treatment services.

Objectives:

The first objective was to implement and validate procedures to help counselors make effective referrals to SHGs for SUD patients. This project randomly assigned SUD outpatients to a standard referral or an intensive referral condition. We are determining the extent to which intensive referral increased patients' SHG attendance and involvement in comparison to standard referral. The second objective is to determine whether patients who received intensive referral to SHGs have better substance use and functioning outcomes over the 1-year follow-up period, and less use of formal treatment services, thereby reducing costs for VA, than those who received standard referral. The long-term goal is to develop and implement guidelines to facilitate SUD patients' participation in SHGs and thereby improve their quality of life and decrease their use of VA's specialized SUD treatment services.

Methods: