Long-Term Abstinence and Quality of Life After a Socioecological Treatment Program: An Italian Experience

ABSTRACT

This article aims to report the outcomes of a brief residential alcohol treatment based on the socioecological method, as measured in terms of professional evaluation and quality of life. The study covered a one-year period (July 2011–August 2012) by following the experiences of 20 users of alcohol included in a residential treatment program based on the socioecological approach. The treatment outcome was assessed via a quality-of-life (QoL) measure and professional service evaluation on three occasions: upon admission to the hospital, one month after hospital discharge, at the follow-up after 3 to 4 months. Moreover, four club facilitators were interviewed after 7 to 8 months concerning the situation of five patients. Results showed that one out of four people with an alcohol addiction were still sober about one year after discharge and attended the Clubs for Alcoholics in Treatment (CAT) regularly. One month after discharge, QoL data and professional evaluation converged in showing an improvement in 13 participants. Their QoL generally improved, with specific reference to their financial situation, life in general, health condition, and family relations. The brief residential program based on the socioecological model appears to be a feasible path for those seeking alcohol treatment in Italy, as a positive outcome was reported by one half of the patients in terms of better QoL at the 6-month follow-up and by one fourth of patients in terms of sobriety and club attendance at the one-year follow-up.

KEYWORDS:

• Quality of life
• socioecological method
• hudolin
• residential alcohol treatment
• CAT attendance

Notes

1. The one-group pretest posttest design is considered preexperimental in that it does not prevent alternative explanations of the results such as history or growth of the participants and causal explanations are not allowed. However, when managing research in natural contexts, this kind of design is considered as “good enough” to allow for preliminary indications on the development of the phenomenon (Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Ongaro, 2000). In this study, no control group was planned since the small number of families followed by the Health Services did not allow scope for a comparison group.

2. AVIS is the main Italian nonprofit organization for blood donations.