Volunteer Assistance in the Treatment of Chronic Alcoholism

Chronic alcoholics often have great difficulty in adjusting their lifestyle to accommodate the goals agreed upon in treatment. A 16-week behavioral self-management program, which emphasized creating lifestyle changes in the community, was offered to 193 clients. To assist in the process of treatment...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse 1999-08, Vol.25 (3), p.543-559
Main Authors: Leigh, Gillian, Hodgins, David C., Milne, Robert, Gerrish, Robin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Alcoholism
Alcoholism - rehabilitation
Analysis of Variance
Biological and medical sciences
Desintoxication. Drug withdrawal
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Ontario
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapy, Group - methods
Social Support
Substance abuse treatment
Substance Abuse Treatment Centers
Treatment
Treatment Methods
Treatment Outcomes
Treatments
Volunteers
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Summary:Chronic alcoholics often have great difficulty in adjusting their lifestyle to accommodate the goals agreed upon in treatment. A 16-week behavioral self-management program, which emphasized creating lifestyle changes in the community, was offered to 193 clients. To assist in the process of treatment delivery, half of the clients were offered the support of trained community volunteers during the treatment program. To give volunteers a time period in which to to meet and start working with their clients, only those clients who completed at least the first 4 weeks of the 16-week program (N = 106) were included in the evaluation. Independent follow-up was conducted over a 12-month period. A significant reduction in alcohol consumption was found for clients of both the volunteer-support (VS; N = 52) and the office-based (OB; N = 54) groups; this reduction was maintained over the 12 months of review, with no major differences found between groups. Volunteers rated high on particular characteristics assisted the client more effectively during treatment than those rated low. The variability in hours spent between volunteer-client pairs appeared to mask any main effects, and also the length of the contact period with the volunteer was too short. It is recommended that the use of volunteers be evaluated further by extending the client contact time into the follow-up period.
ISSN:0095-2990
1097-9891
DOI:10.1081/ADA-100101878