The impact of length of stay on recovery measures in faith-based addiction treatment

Objective: To determine the impact of length of stay among homeless men in faith-based residential addictions recovery on physical activity, depression, self-esteem, and nicotine dependence. Design and Sample: A time series design was utilized to measure changes in the four quality measures at program entry and at 3, 6, and 9 months following admission. The sample consisted of 175 homeless residents enrolled in a faith-based residential recovery program. Measures: Paired t tests were used to determine the change in average instrument response from admission to each follow-up period. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey posthoc tests were used to assess for differences in length of stay between demographic variables. Results: Statistically significant improvements were noted in self-esteem and depressive symptomatology at 3 and 6months following admission and in physical activity levels at 3 months following admission. Nicotine dependence scores declined at 3 and 6 months but were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Time spent in this faith-based spiritual recovery program had a significant impact on depression, self-esteem, and physical activity. Recommendations for future study include conducting research to analyze the relationship between distinct program elements and quality indicators and comparing faith-based programs to other similar programs and to publicly funded secular recovery programs.