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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Self-supporting group homes have high
success rates in helping people recover from alcoholism and drug
addiction, researchers from DePaul University reported Thursday.
A pair of studies presented at the annual meeting of
the American Psychological Association found success rates of 65
percent to 87 percent for the homes.
The benefits of communal living include a lower relapse
rate and keeping individuals as productive members of society, lead
author Leonard Jason said. In addition, he noted, the houses operate
at little or no cost to the taxpayer.
Jason and co-authors studied residents of Oxford House, a nationwide
network of group homes serving recovering addicts. Each resident
pays a share of the costs and can be evicted if found to be using
drugs or alcohol.
One study compared 75 people who went into an Oxford House
after detoxification with 75 who went to halfway houses or returned
to the community.
After two years, 65 percent of the Oxford House residents were clean
and sober compared with 31 percent of the others, Jason said.
The second study began with a national sample of 897 Oxford
House residents. After a year, 607 remained in the study and, of
those, 87 percent said they still were off alcohol and drugs.
Those who dropped out of the study previously had reported higher
rates of drug and alcohol use than those who stayed in, the report
noted. It said those who dropped out were younger and had spent less
time in the home than those who remained.
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