A COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPEUTIC-COMMUNITY FOR SUBSTANCE DEPENDENT AND HOMELESS VETERANS - TREATMENT OUTCOME

This paper presents data regarding a residential rehabilitation progra m that integrates cognitive-behavioral and therapeutic community techn iques to treat homelessness and substance abuse. The study cohort was 110 military veterans admitted to a Domiciliary Care for Homeless Vete rans program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The cohort had mul tiple psychosocial problems at admission, and all had drug/alcohol abs tinence as a treatment goal. Structured interviews conducted at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postdischarge revealed that a substantial proportion had positive outcomes with respect to housing, substance abuse abstine nce, employment, and self-rated psychological symptoms. This integrate d cognitive-behavioral therapeutic community approach appears to be a viable treatment for this subset of homeless and also may be effective for other populations with similar clinical characteristics.