Participation and Outcome in a Residential Treatment and Work Therapy Program for Addictive Disorders: The Effects of Race

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined differences in program participation and outcome between black and white veterans with addictive disorders who participated in an intensive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) residential work therapy program. METHOD: Data on 962 veterans treated in the VA Compensated Work Therapy/Transitional Residence Program were gathered. Multivariate analyses were used to compare black and white veterans on admission characteristics, program participation, and 3-month outcome. RESULTS: The black subjects were younger than the white veterans and had more severe drug abuse problems, less severe alcohol and psychiatric problems, and more extensive social support networks. There were no differences between groups in 11 of 13 measures of program participation, although the blacks felt more positively about the therapeutic milieu and worked more hours per month in the work therapy program than the whites. The black veterans also showed more improvement in alcohol use and housing. The proportion of black participants at the site level had no impact on measures of program participation or outcome among black participants with one exception: blacks were more likely to achieve sobriety at 3 months when treated in programs with higher proportions of black participants. CONCLUSIONS: Detailed data on program participation and outcome in a large study group showed no evidence of less program participation or worse outcome among black patients. (Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155:1029–1034)