NCJ Number
182713
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 1997 Pages: 315-328
Date Published
1997
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the psychiatric and socio-demographic characteristics, substance abuse, and family histories of a population of homeless, mentally ill, chemical-abusing men (HMICAs) in relation to treatment recruitment, entry, and retention.
Abstract
The study identified two stages prior to treatment enrollment, treatment exploration and treatment recruitment, and it presents the results of a study of 1,924 HMICA's who looked for community-based treatment in New York City between 1991 and 1996. Only 326 of these men actually entered treatment. The rest were lost either prior to or during the recruitment stage. This study focused on the 823 men who reached the treatment recruitment stage, as it attempted to correlate their sociodemographic, psychological, and substance abuse characteristics with the various types of attrition during treatment recruitment. The findings suggest a profile of the candidate at high risk of being rejected at the prescreening interview and another profile of the HMICA man at high risk for rejection by the treatment programs. The HMICA man likely to be rejected at the prescreening interview is older, white, not likely to have a DSM III R diagnosis of mood disorder, with a history of cognitive disorder, has a high score on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), has a low score on the General Assessment Scale (GAS), whose major substance of abuse is alcohol, and who is referred to treatment by a State psychiatric hospital. The HMICA treatment candidate likely to be rejected by the treatment programs has little education; a diagnosis of schizophrenia with cognitive impairment; a history of disruptive, violent, and assaultive behavior; a high score on BPRS and a low score on the GAS; a history of criminality; no history of shelter use; and was referred by a State psychiatric hospital. 3 tables and 29 references