Treatment Facility Neighborhood Environment and Outpatient Treatment Completion

Abstract

The current study focuses on three dimensions of treatment neighborhood environments that may influence treatment retention: neighborhood disadvantage, stability, and concentrated immigration. We examined treatment outcomes for a total of 9,319 individuals who were admitted for initial treatment in 56 outpatient clinics in Cook County, Illinois. Census-tract-level data were used to measure facility neighborhood environment. We found that neighborhood disadvantage was unrelated to individual treatment completion. Immigrant concentration was found to increase the likelihood of substance abuse treatment completion, although it was attenuated after controlling for patient problem severity and referral sources. Neighborhood stability was found to be positively related to treatment completion. These results suggest that knowledge of neighborhood context should be an important consideration when making placement decisions of new treatment facilities. Knowledge of neighborhood impact on treatment attrition should also be considered essential information to be used for client placement, treatment program design, and discharge protocols.