Therapeutic Communities: A Three Country Comparison

描述(由申请人提供)： 该应用程序响应了一项计划公告(PAS-03-023；“药物成瘾国际研究合作”)，该计划鼓励药物成瘾和治疗方面的国际合作研究。NDRI的研究人员将与大顶村及其国际分部合作，检查治疗社区(TC)的特点以及中国、泰国和美国这三个国家的TC治疗过程。每个国家将有一名TC作为研究地点。提出了三个目标：1)描述每个国家的TC计划，并评估每个TC中基本要素的存在；2)衡量基本要素与客户保留和护理进展之间的关系；3)建立一个国际调查团队来进行研究，评估文化背景，提供研究技术援助，传播研究结果，并制定未来的建议。入院、治疗过程和出院数据将在每个参与地点收集21个月，估计包括1,610名研究参与者(中国=440人；泰国=570人；美国=600人)。客户和工作人员的重点小组将每年进行两次，参与者将完成质量保证量表和基本要素调查；这些数据将被分析，以表征计划及其随时间的变化。总体目标是提高TC护理的质量并促进合作研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application responds to a Program Announcement (PAS-03-023; "International Research Collaboration on Drug Addiction") that encourages international collaborative research on drug addiction and treatment. Investigators at NDRI will collaborate with Daytop Village and its International Division to examine the characteristics of Therapeutic Communities (TC) and the process of TC treatment in three countries: China, Thailand and the United States. One TC will be the study site in each country. Three aims are proposed: 1) describe the TC program in each country and assess the presence of essential elements in each TC, 2) measure the relationship between essential elements and client retention and progress in care, and 3) build an international team of investigators to conduct the study, evaluate the cultural context, provide research technical assistance, disseminate findings and develop future proposals. Admissions, treatment process, and discharge data will be collected at each participating site for 21 months and include an estimated 1,610 study participants (China = 440; Thailand = 570; United States = 600). Client and staff focus groups will be conducted twice per year and participants will complete quality assurance scales and the Survey of Essential Elements; these data are analyzed to characterize the programs and their changes over time. The overall goals are to improve the quality of TC care and to foster collaborative research.