Alcoholic patients' decisions about halfway houses. What they say, what they do

Because of the important role of halfway houses in the recovery of many alcoholic patients, patients' attitudes toward accepting placement in a halfway house were studied in a state hospital's alcohol rehabilitation program. Verbal intentions to accept or not to accept placement were measured at the beginning and again toward the end of the program sequence. Both assessments showed a strong correlation with the patients' actual behaviors. The relationships between intentions and ultimate choices were moderated both by the amount of time between observations and, independently of the passage of time, by the subjects' experience with or knowledge about halfway houses. Changes over the course of the program were mostly positive (favorable toward going and actually doing so). These shifts mainly involved the people who had been initially undecided about placement in a halfway house. Amount of time spent in the rehabilitation program was unrelated to patients' initial intentions toward going and had little bearing on their final decisions.