NCJ Number
186802
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse: An International Interdisciplinary Forum Volume: 35 Issue: 12-14 Dated: 2000 Pages: 1797-1818
Date Published
2000
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the current literature on the definition and classification of drug and alcohol user treatment "programs," and provides a rationale for the authors' approach to measuring the treatment programs in the Drug Evaluation Network System (DENS).
Abstract
The DENS collects extensive background and recent status data on patients' drug, alcohol, psychiatric, medical, employment, legal, and family problems as they enter a sample of treatment programs throughout the country. The DENS recognized the need for descriptive information on important structural, organizational, and service delivery aspects of the programs in which those patients were treated. Toward this end, the authors present their efforts thus far in characterizing and monitoring "service delivery units" or "programs" that are sampled in the DENS system. Specifically, this paper describes the development of the Addiction Treatment Inventory (ATI), a standardized measurement instrument to characterize these service delivery units and their services. The ATI focuses on organizational structure, patient profile, service profile, staffing mix, and financing. Although the ATI does collect substantial information on treatment programs, the authors acknowledge that it has limitations. Most importantly, it is limited by reliance on the knowledge, availability, and resourcefulness of the staff member completing it. It is at best descriptive, and it is not possible to infer indications about the quality or appropriateness of staffing patterns or service delivery patterns from the ATI. 4 tables, 1 figure, and 15 references