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A brief treatment engagement intervention for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders: results of a randomized clinical trial.

Smelson D, Kalman D, Losonczy MF, Kline A, Sambamoorthi U, Hill LS, Castles-Fonseca K, Ziedonis D. A brief treatment engagement intervention for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders: results of a randomized clinical trial. Community mental health journal. 2012 Apr 1; 48(2):127-32.

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Abstract:

Study objectives were to evaluate a brief intervention designed to facilitate outpatient engagement following an inpatient psychiatric stay for individuals with mental illness and substance use. A total of 102 veterans were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) Time Limited Care-Coordination (TLC), an eight-week co-occurring disorders intervention or (2) a matched attention (MA) control condition in the form of health education sessions. Both groups also received treatment as usual in inpatient and outpatient settings. Sixty-nine percent of TLC participants attended an outpatient appointment within 14 days of discharge, compared to only 33% of MA participants (P < 0.01). TLC participants were also more likely to be engaged in outpatient services at the end of the intervention period (44 vs. 22%, P < 0.01). This study provided evidence that an eight-week intervention could improve treatment engagement. Research is currently underway to examine impact of TLC intervention beyond the 8 week study period.




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