Project Description
Improving Mental-Health Care of Drug Treatment Clients
PI: Katherine Watkins
Co-PI: Suzanne Wenzel
Funded by: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Many drug treatment clients suffer from affective and anxiety disorders that, left untreated, leave them less likely than others to benefit from drug treatment. Most publicly funded substance abuse providers are unable to provide appropriate mental-health care or access to such care for their dually diagnosed clients. RAND is undertaking a demonstration of a set of methods to increase the fraction of drug abuse clients participating in mental-health care. Researchers are working with the largest substance abuse treatment provider in Los Angeles County to increase referrals to county mental-health services. The intervention includes provider staff training and supervision, client activation and education, and identification and provision of access to mental-health services. A concomitant evaluation will determine the demonstration's effects on referral rates, mental-health treatment use, retention in drug treatment, satisfaction with treatment, and subsequent mental health, quality of life and functioning, and substance use. One hundred persons screened for depressive, anxiety, or psychotic disorders are participating in a quasi-experimental design.
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