G. Nicholas Braucht

Women, Homelessness, And Substance Abuse: Moving Beyond the Stereotypes

This study examined the characteristics of homeless women with substance abuse problems. Data were collected on a sample of 323 homeless substance abusers. First, 49 women and 274 men were compared to demonstrate distinct problems and treatment needs of the women. Results showed that the women were more likely than the men to abuse drugs, but less likely to receive substance abuse treatment. In addition, women spent more time in doubled-up living arrangements, and were more likely to receive outpatient psychiatric treatment. Second, two subgroups of women were compared: those who had been homeless for 6 months or less, and those who had been homeless longer than 6 months during their lifetime. The women who had been homeless longer were less educated, younger when they first became homeless, and were more likely to abuse alcohol, to have been assaulted, and to have attempted suicide. Implications for research and treatment are discussed.

A Computerized Approach To Trickle-Process, Random Assignment

The random assignment of indivcduals to treatment conditions is often corrupted in field studies. The typical result is nonequivalence between the treatment groups and a corresponding reduc tion in the studys credibilety. The corruption of the assignment process seems to be particularly common in studies involving trickle processing, wherein the research participants appear and are assigned to treatments one at a time over an extended period Several procedures for safeguarding the integrity of random assignment with trickle processing have been proposed. The present article describes a computer-based, alternative method

An Empirical Typology of the Chronically Mentally Ill

This paper describes the demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics of a sample of chronically mentally ill clients at a large comprehensive community mental health center. Utilizing cluster analytic procedures, five basic types of chronically mentally ill clients are empirically identified. The differential pattern of pyschosocial characteristics associated with each type is explored and the distinctive profile of each type is delineated. Finally, the implications of this typology for the design of community support treatment programs and allocation of increasingly scarce resources are presented.

Prevention of Problem Drinking among Youth

The search for effective means of preventing problem drinking among young people is an extremely important endeavor. There are two major reasons why prevention is essential. First, a massive body of evidence in the public health field has shown that both physical and mental health problems are relatively difficult to control by treating problem cases after the problems have appeared and become established. Problem drinking and/or alcoholism cases are generally the most intractable of all clinical problems. Despite the fact that the prevalence of alcoholism among adults has not been stemmed by treatment, tremendous expenditures of public resources have been devoted to treatment efforts. In comparison with attempts to prevent the development of these problems, such treatment efforts have had a long and expensive history. Second, identifying effective prevention strategies is vitally important because drinking is a problem of progressively dismaying magnitude among the youth of this country. Some perspectives on the dimensions of this problem are afforded by recent reviews on the epidemiology and psychosocial correlates of teenage drinking (Braucht, 1980) and adolescent problem drinking (Braucht, 1981).

Intensive Case Management for Homeless People with Alcohol and Other Drug Proplems

An intensive casc management program designed to be ellcclive with homeless persons affected by alcohol and other drug problems was implemented and rigorously evaluated The service demonstration site for the Denver project was Arapahoe House, Colorados largest and most comprehensive substance abuse treatment center. The evaluation research efforts was conducted by the University of Denver. This project implemented an innovative model of case management, in which case managers operated in dyads and with a small caseload of clients. This model was oonceived as an optimal strategy to bind clients to the continuum of substance abuse s e m within Arapahoe How and to link clients to other needed services and benefits in the community.

CMHS/CSAT Collaborative Demonstration Program for Homeless Individuals

The Collaborative Demonstration Program for Homeless Individuals is providing an opportunity for several community agencies in the United States to explore innovative intervention and treatment strategies to address the needs of homeless people with co-occurring (mental illness and substance abuse) disorders. This cooperative agreement, funded jointly by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is a

Psychosocial correlates of empirical types of multiple drug abusers.

3 million project supporting programs in various community agencies to develop, document, and evaluate programs for persons who are homeless with co-occurring disorders to be used as models in other communities. The program models include: Assertive Community Treatment, Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Therapeutic Community, and an integrated treatment model. The first phase of the two-phase project funded 16 programs in the U.S. to develop manuals within their primary treatment modalities for homeless people with co-occurring disorders. For Phase II of the project, six of the 16 model programs were competitively selected to demonstrate program impact through formal program evaluation efforts. The data derived from the various projects will be compiled into a compendium of information for state agencies and community service providers throughout the U.S.