Oxford House, a national program that provides a supportive, democratic, self-help setting with other recovering alcoholics, well illustrates a community-based approach toward alcohol recovery. Oxford Houses might represent cost-effective and efficient settings where individuals who are recovering from addictions can experience a sense of community and develop self- efficacy toward abstinence. Each local Oxford House aims to provide a setting for developing skills that enable long-term sobriety. There are over 700 Oxford Houses across the country serving thousands of men and women. The present proposal is in response to program announcement PAS-98-037. In the proposed study, we will recruit 150 participants, all of whom are in the process of finishing inpatient treatment at an alcohol and drug abuse facility in Illinois. Seventy-five will be randomly assigned to Oxford Houses and 75 to usual care. These individuals will be interviewed every 6 months for a two-year period of time. The present outcome study will assess the effects of communal living in an abstinence supportive setting on recovering alcoholics' sobriety, self-efficacy beliefs, abstinence social support networks, employment outcomes, and illegal activity. This study would be the first longitudinal evaluation of Oxford Houses, and it would provide important information on the nature and role of the Oxford House experience on long-term sobriety among recovering alcoholics.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 48 publications
