Addressing the Service Linkage Problem: Increasing Substance Abuse Treatment Engagement Using Personalized Feedback Interventions in Heavy-Using Female Domestic Violence Shelter Residents

• NCJ Number: 222370
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 18 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 1311-1324
• Author(s): Richard L. Ogle; John S. Baer
• Date Published: November 2003
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study compared the effectiveness of two brief interventions aimed in gauging substance-using female domestic violence shelter residents in substance abuse treatment.

Abstract

Results of the study shed light on two aspects of the service linkage problems: assessment and engagement. Eighty-four percent of residents entering the shelter were accessed without special incentives; refusal and incompletion rates were low. Assessment of substance abuse had been cited as a barrier to providing proper domestic violence-substance abuse linkage. Fewer than 1 in 10 domestic violence programs surveyed assessed individuals for substance abuse. Assessment is thought to be time-consuming, too technical, and sensitive. The study found that 147 residents were assessed for quantity and frequency of substance use, negative consequences due to use, motivation to change substance use behavior, and psychopathological symptoms related to substance abuse. The assessment identified 22 percent of participants as heavy substance users; 20 residents received one of two personalized substance use feedback interventions: face-to-face feedback or written feedback. Results showed significant difference in treatment engagement rates in favor of the face-to-face feedback group. The numbers obtained in this study suggest that substance-abuse assessment can be conducted effectively in the context of a domestic violence agency by paraprofessionals with limited training. In terms of cost and resources, the measures used in this intervention (except the SCL-90) can be found within the public domain at cost, and administration and scoring can be done easily with time the only resource. The assessment procedures used in the study can be adapted to suit the needs of domestic violence programs that desire substance-abuse assessment capabilities. Participants were recruited from 176 consecutive admissions to a 75-bed domestic violence shelter located in a large city in the southwestern region of the United States. Table, references