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Service Delivery in Substance Abuse Treatment: Reexamining “Comprehensive” Care

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Abstract

Substance abuse treatment clients present with an array of service needs in various life domains. Ideal models of addiction treatment incorporate provision or linkages to services to meet clients’ multiple needs; in turn, these wraparound and supportive services are associated with improvements in client retention and treatment outcomes. Using data from large samples of specialty addiction treatment providers in the public and private sectors, this article examines the extent and organizational correlates of the comprehensiveness of service delivery. Multivariate models indicate that private sector treatment facilities offer more “core” medical and treatment services, whereas public sector programs offer more wraparound and supportive services. However, both sectors fall short of the ideal model of service comprehensiveness in terms of absolute number of services offered. These findings raise concerns regarding the quality and availability of needed services for treatment of addiction.

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Acknowledgments

This manuscript was developed with funding support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (grant no. 53400). Data collection for these analyses was supported by the NIDA (research grants R01DA13110 and R01DA14482). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of either funding agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Behavioral Research, University of Georgia, 101 Barrow Hall, Athens, GA, 30602-2401, USA

    Lori J. Ducharme PhD, Hannah K. Knudsen PhD & J. Aaron Johnson PhD

  2. Center for Research on Behavioral Health and Human Services Delivery, Institute for Behavioral Research, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Heather L. Mello MA & Paul M. Roman PhD

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Paul M. Roman PhD

Authors
  1. Lori J. Ducharme PhD
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  2. Heather L. Mello MA
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  3. Paul M. Roman PhD
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  4. Hannah K. Knudsen PhD
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  5. J. Aaron Johnson PhD
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Correspondence to Lori J. Ducharme PhD.

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Ducharme, L.J., Mello, H.L., Roman, P.M. et al. Service Delivery in Substance Abuse Treatment: Reexamining “Comprehensive” Care. J Behav Health Serv Res 34, 121–136 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-007-9061-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-007-9061-7

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