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Client matching: a severity-treatment intensity paradigm
George De Leon1, Gerald Melnick, Charles M Cleland
1Center for Therapeutic Community Research, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., 71 West 23rd Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010, USA. deleon@ndri.org
Abstract:
Despite considerable effort to develop matching strategies and client placement protocols, research studies fail to yield compelling results regarding the benefits of matching to treatment. The most consistent findings suggest a matching paradigm, which defines a successful placement as the least treatment intensity required addressing the severity of the disorder. The purpose of the present study is to provide further empirical support for the validity of a severity-intensity paradigm utilizing data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies. A "passive match" approach employed the Client Matching Protocol decision algorithm, which recommended clients to long-term residential or outpatient drug-free treatment. One-year outcomes for clients matched to long-term residential treatment were better on all outcome variables compared to those undertreated in outpatient drug-free treatment. Findings supported the validity of the severity-intensity paradigm in that undertreated clients showed less improvement compared to matched and overtreated clients.
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