A therapeutic workplace for the long-term treatment of drug addiction and unemployment: Eight-year outcomes of a social business intervention

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2014.06.013
• Publication Date: 2014-07-12T22:01:03Z
• Authors: Will M. Aklin; Conrad J. Wong; Jacqueline Hampton; Dace S. Svikis; Maxine L. Stitzer; George E. Bigelow; Kenneth Silverman
• Keywords: Therapeutic community; Methadone maintenance

This study evaluated the long-term effects of a therapeutic workplace social business on drug abstinence and employment. Pregnant and postpartum women (N = 40) enrolled in methadone treatment were randomly assigned to a therapeutic workplace or usual care control group. Therapeutic workplace participants could work weekdays in training and then as employees of a social business, but were required to provide drug-free urine samples to work and maintain maximum pay. Three-year outcomes were reported previously. This paper reports 4- to 8-year outcomes. During year 4 when the business was open, therapeutic workplace participants provided significantly more cocaine- and opiate-negative urine samples than controls; reported more days employed, higher employment income, and less money spent on drugs. During the 3 years after the business closed, therapeutic workplace participants only reported higher income than controls. A therapeutic workplace social business can maintain long-term abstinence and employment, but additional intervention may be required to sustain effects.