Dually Diagnosed Homeless Veterans in Residential Treatment

The authors addressed questions relevant to the treatment of homeless veterans with concurrent psychiatric and substance disorders by comparing characteristics of dually diagnosed participants in a residential treatment program with those of participants who had a single diagnosis of serious mental illness (SMS) or substance abuse/dependence or neither diagnosis. An implication for Department of Veterans Affairs service refinement emerging from the study is that greater attention must be paid to helping veterans with substance use disorders--whether singly or dually diagnosed--to maintain involvement in the treatment program.