331ª Reunião Ordinária do Conselho Nacional de Saúde - 29 jun. 2022

The impact of a combined mentalisation-based therapy and therapeutic community programme for adolescents with borderline personality disorder traits on service utilisation in Western Australia.

This study assessed the effect of a mentalisation-based therapy (MBT) treatment programme on the utilisation of Western Australian public hospitals for mental health presentations over an 18-month period. Hospital data included the number of visits to the emergency department (ED), the number of inpatient admissions to hospital and length of stay of the admissions. Participants included 76 adolescents aged 13-17 years old, who presented with borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits. The Touchstone treatment programme is a time-limited intensive programme that utilises MBT in the context of a therapeutic community. Hospital data for the participants were collected and analysed from three time points; 6 months prior to attending the programme, during the 6-month programme (active treatment) and 6 months after the programme. Results found a statistically significant decrease in hospital utilisation from pre to post programme, with a decline in ED visits, inpatient admissions and admission length of stay. This study presents promising preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of an intensive MBT programme as an intervention for adolescents with BPD features and has significant implications for the public health system in terms of providing effective community-based treatment for this difficult to treat population as well as reducing pressure on tertiary care.

Prison-based democratic therapeutic communities, medication, and the power to exclude.

In 1962, the first custodial Democratic Therapeutic Community (DTC) was established in the English prison estate at HMP Grendon. Today, the Category B male prison estate in England and Wales has three DTCs and three 'TC+' units for prisoners with learning disabilities. There is one DTC in the female estate at HMP Send. The services fall under the remit of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway, a jointly commissioned initiative that aims to provide a pathway of psychologically informed services for a highly complex and challenging group of prisoners who are likely to have a severe personality disorder. Several of these units make clear that prisoners prescribed psychotropic medicines are specifically excluded from entry and participation in the available therapy. This analysis paper explores whether an evidence-based rationale exists for this practice and examines the impact on those whose care pathways may comprise hospitals and prisons.

Innovation in mental health care: Bertram Mandelbrote, the Phoenix Unit and the therapeutic community approach.

Bertram Mandelbrote was Physician Superintendent and Consultant Psychiatrist at Littlemore Hospital in Oxford from 1959 to 1988. A humane pragmatist rather than theoretician, Mandelbrote was known for his facilitating style of leadership and working across organisational boundaries. He created the Phoenix Unit, an innovative admission unit run on therapeutic community lines which became a hub for community outreach. Material drawn from oral histories and witness seminars reflects the remarkably unstructured style of working on the Phoenix Unit and the enduring influence of Mandelbrote and fellow consultant Benn Pomryn's styles of leadership. Practices initiated at Littlemore led to a number of innovative services in Oxfordshire. These innovations place Mandelbrote as a pioneer in social psychiatry and the therapeutic community approach.

Classic Text No. 133: 'Maxwell Jones and the Therapeutic Community', by David Millard (1996).

This text was David Millard's departing gift to a field to which he had contributed for 30 years, as practitioner and later as Lecturer in Applied Social Studies and editor of the International Journal of Therapeutic Communities. Charting the chronology of Maxwell Jones's career as a world-renowned psychiatrist and therapeutic community pioneer, Millard contrasts Jones's contribution at Mill Hill with Tom Main's at Northfield. Jones's most distinctive contribution was allowing patients to become auxiliary therapists and freeing nurses from the nursing hierarchy. Focusing on a subset of therapeutic communities in adult psychiatry, Millard's paper is not an academic history of therapeutic communities as such. The roles of happenstance and positive deviance are demonstrated in the way change occurs in therapeutic communities. The 'charisma question' is briefly explored.

A comparison of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia to standard of care in an outpatient substance use disorder clinic embedded within a therapeutic community: a RE-AIM framework evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Rates of substance use disorders (SUDs) continue to rise in the USA with parallel rises in admissions to outpatient SUD treatment programs. Insomnia symptoms reduce treatment adherence, trigger relapse, and generally undermine SUD recovery efforts. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line treatment recommended for chronic insomnia. No study has examined the effectiveness of CBT-I for individuals who recently entered an outpatient SUD treatment program embedded within a therapeutic community (i.e., long-term drug-free residential setting). METHODS: A randomized controlled trial conducted at a SUD program embedded in a therapeutic community aimed to compare group-based CBT-I (gCBT-I) (N = 10) with the standard of care (SOC) (N = 11) among individuals who have SUDs and comorbid insomnia. We present a RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework evaluation to provide empirical data on gCBT-I feasibility and facilitators and barriers of conducting an insomnia-focused clinical effectiveness study within a therapeutic community. RESULTS: Participants in both study arms reported moderately severe insomnia symptoms at admission and reductions in insomnia symptoms over time. Among participants who completed the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) beyond admission, ISI decreased to ≤ 8 (the clinical cutoff for mild insomnia) in 80% of individuals in the gCBT-I group compared with 25% of individuals in the SOC group. A RE-AIM framework evaluation showed initial success with Reach and Adoption while Implementation, and Maintenance were limited. Effectiveness was inconclusive because of challenges with recruitment, intervention integrity, and missing data that precluded meeting the planned recruitment and study aims and led to study termination. Coordination and communication with staff and leadership facilitated gCBT-I implementation, yet well-known CBT-I barriers including time- and resource-intensive sleep medicine training for interventionalists and maintenance of treatment integrity during an 8-week intervention limited gCBT-I sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis supports the feasibility of conducting behavioral sleep medicine research in outpatient SUD treatment programs embedded within therapeutic communities. Implementation of an insomnia-focused intervention was widely accepted by patients and providers and has potential to address insomnia symptoms in early SUD recovery. Addressing patient- and organizational-level implementation barriers may enhance the sustainability and scalability of sleep interventions and provide new hope to effectively treat insomnia among people living with SUDs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov : NCT03208855. Registered July 6, 2017https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03208855?term=NCT03208855&draw=2&rank=1.

The Impact of Therapeutic Community Gardening on the Wellbeing, Loneliness, and Life Satisfaction of Individuals with Mental Illness.

BACKGROUND: literature on the mental health benefits of therapeutic community gardening is not specific to individuals with mental illness and reports short-term outcomes. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on intervention effectiveness is also unknown. This study examined the impact of therapeutic community gardening prior to and across the pandemic on the wellbeing of individuals referred for support with their mental illness. METHODS: garden members (n = 53; male = 36, female = 17) aged 47.38 ± 13.09 years reported their wellbeing at baseline and four follow-up points (FU1-FU4) across the pandemic. RESULTS: there was significant quadratic growth in wellbeing (-1.248; p < 0.001) that varied between genders (p = 0.021). At baseline, male wellbeing scores were significantly lower (p = 0.020) than the UK population norm, but there were no significant differences at any other follow-up point. Female wellbeing was significantly lower than the UK population norm at baseline (p < 0.001), FU1 (p = 0.012) and FU2 (p < 0.001), but not FU3 and FU4. CONCLUSION: therapeutic community gardening can improve and maintain the wellbeing of individuals with mental illness, even when wellbeing is deteriorating nationally. Future research should further demonstrate the long-term and cost-effectiveness of interventions.

Therapeutic Community Gardening as a Green Social Prescription for Mental Ill-Health: Impact, Barriers, and Facilitators from the Perspective of Multiple Stakeholders.

The UK government has invested £5.77 million in green social prescribing to prevent and tackle mental ill-health. Therapeutic community gardening, one type of green social prescription, provides a range of health outcomes. However, for increased accessibility, a greater understanding of how it impacts mental health and the facilitators and barriers to referral, uptake, and attendance by individuals with mental health problems is required. We conducted and thematically analysed interviews with thirteen stakeholders including social prescribing link workers and garden staff; and focus groups with twenty garden members. The mechanisms by which therapeutic community gardening were suggested to impact mental health were by engaging members with nature and the outdoors, providing hope for the future and facilitating social support and relationships. Factors facilitating referral, uptake, and attendance included a holistic and person-centred approach, which is flexible around health needs. Barriers included awareness of the full offering of therapeutic community gardens and accessibility, in terms of physical location and waiting lists. Given that nature-based interventions have the potential to protect and enhance population health and offer cost savings through reduced reliance on other health services; overcoming these barriers is key to ensuring that therapeutic community gardening is more widely available as an additional mental health treatment.

Healing journeys: experiences of young Aboriginal people in an urban Australian therapeutic community drug and alcohol program.

Disproportionately high numbers of Aboriginal young people access residential alcohol and other drug programs in Australia. While demand is high, these programs often have low numbers of Aboriginal staff. Residential programs, however, generally offer supports that reflect features of Aboriginal health care - holistic, group-based, connected to local communities, and addressing determinants of health. The qualitative research outlined in this paper was a collaboration between a mainstream residential therapeutic community program and two Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, and Aboriginal young people and researchers, with Aboriginal research leadership. It used an Aboriginal healing framework to understand the experiences of 12 young Aboriginal people in the program, triangulated with 19 key informant interviews. This provided an opportunity to understand how Indigenous knowledge about healing related to mainstream programs and the experiences of Aboriginal young people. This moves beyond individualist and deficit-focused conceptions of youth alcohol and drug use and centres Aboriginal cultures as healing. Findings point to the need for critically self-reflective mainstream organisations, a larger Aboriginal workforce with leadership roles, partnerships with Aboriginal Elders and organisations, and an investment in Aboriginal community-controlled alcohol and other drug services.

Effects of social skills training for drug users under treatment / Efeitos do treinamento em habilidades sociais para usuários de substâncias em tratamento / Efectos del entrenamiento en habilidades sociales para usuarios de sustancias en tratamiento

The Social Skills Training (SST) presents satisfactory results in different clinical and non-clinical populations. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of SST on the perception of quality of life of drug users under treatment in post-intervention and follow-up conditions. It is a quasi-experimental study. The instruments used in the study were: CHASO, EMES-M, Extensive Interaction Semi-structured Test and WHOQOL. The study sample was composed of forty male drug users who participated in SST in a Therapeutic Community. The results indicate a statistically significant increase in the ability of defending rights, dealing with and keeping calm upon criticism, with medium effect size on the ability to refuse requests, refuse drugs and quality of life (psychological domain). SST was found to contribute to the development of specific social skills and as a complementary strategy in the Therapeutic Community. (AU)

O Treinamento em Habilidades Sociais (THS) apresenta resultados satisfatórios em populações clínicas e não clínicas. Objetiva-se avaliar os efeitos do THS na percepção de qualidade de vida e habilidades sociais de usuários de substâncias em tratamento nas condições de pós-intervenção e follow-up. Trata-se de um estudo quase-experimental. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: CHASO, EMES-M, Teste Semiestruturado de Interação Extensa e WHOQOL. Participaram 40 homens usuários de substâncias que participaram do THS em uma Comunidade Terapêutica. Os resultados apontam para um aumento estatisticamente significativo nas habilidades de defesa de direitos, enfrentar e manter a tranquilidade diante das críticas, com tamanho de efeito médio nas habilidades de negar pedidos, recusar a droga e qualidade de vida (domínio psicológico). Identifica-se que o THS contribui no desenvolvimento de habilidades sociais específicas, sendo uma estratégia complementar do tratamento na Comunidade Terapêutica. (AU)

El Entrenamiento en Habilidades Sociales (EHS) proporciona resultados satisfactorios en poblaciones clínicas y no clínicas. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar los efectos del EHS en la percepción de la calidad de vida y las habilidades sociales de los usuarios de drogas bajo tratamiento en condiciones de post-intervención y seguimiento. Se trata de un estudio cuasi-experimental Los instrumentos utilizados fueron: CHASO, EMES-M, Test Semiestructurado de Interacción Extensiva y WHOQOL. La muestra del estudio se compuso por cuarenta varones usuarios de drogas que participaron en el EHS en una Comunidad Terapéutica. Los resultados apuntan a un aumento estadísticamente significativo en la capacidad de defensa de derechos, afrontar, mantener la tranquilidad frente a las críticas, con un tamaño de efecto promedio en la denegación de peticiones, rechazo de drogas y calidad de vida (dominio psicológico). Se comprueba que el EHS contribuye al desarrollo de habilidades sociales específicas como una estrategia complementaria de tratamiento en la Comunidad Terapéutica. (AU)

Religious therapeutic communities: between salvation by faith and the denial of its principles. / Comunidades terapêuticas religiosas: entre a salvação pela fé e a negação dos seus princípios.

The growth of Brazilian therapeutic communities points to a return to the asylum paradigm, with public funding for hospitalizations based on labor therapy and religious conversion. The relationship between these institutions and government sectors has expanded since 2013 in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Given this scenario, we aimed to analyze, through this qualitative research, the role of religious therapeutic communities in the treatment of individuals with problematic drug use, focusing on the impact of the religious methods employed in these places. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 28 individuals who had been treated in these places. The interviews were held for six months and subsequently transcribed in full. The data were analyzed using the Discourse Analysis. The subjects' statements widely differed: 13 reported that institutions had an essential role in their treatment and pointed out that religious methods helped them, while 15 argued that institutions were inefficient in their treatment and religious methods were ineffective. The study elucidated the need for inspection of these institutions and stirred a reflection concerning their suitability as publicly funded places to treat the drug user population.

O avanço das comunidades terapêuticas no Brasil aponta para um retorno ao paradigma manicomial, com financiamento público para internações baseadas em laborterapia e conversão religiosa. No Espírito Santo, a relação entre essas instituições e setores do governo se amplia a partir de 2013. Diante deste cenário, objetivamos analisar, por meio desta pesquisa qualitativa, o papel das comunidades terapêuticas religiosas no tratamento de indivíduos em uso abusivo de drogas, focalizando no impacto dos métodos religiosos empregados nestes locais. Para isso, realizamos entrevistas semiestruturadas com 28 indivíduos egressos de internações nestes locais. As entrevistas foram realizadas durante seis meses e, posteriormente, transcritas na íntegra. Os dados foram analisados por meio da Análise do Discurso. Os discursos dos sujeitos oscilaram: 13 referiram que as instituições tiveram um importante papel em seus processos de tratamento e que os métodos religiosos os ajudaram; e 15 defenderam que as instituições não foram eficientes em seus tratamentos e que os métodos religiosos nada contribuíram. O estudo elucidou a necessidade de fiscalização destas instituições, bem como reflexão sobre a pertinência das mesmas como locais financiados publicamente para o tratamento da população usuária de drogas.

Thinking of Harm Reduction and Reducing Harm in a Chinese Therapeutic Community for Drug Users.

Harm is a concept that permeates behavioral and public health discourses on addiction. Examining addiction recovery services in settings beyond the OECD led me to the question: What does harm mean in an un-urban, un-Western, and un-democratic space? While some emphasize the human rights potential of reducing harm, others speak to the violence of cure. My ethnographic research in a Therapeutic Community (TC) for drug treatment in Southwest China pushed me to consider how the potential for reducing the harms of illegal substance use balance with the complex psychological demands of cure. The alliance linking Sunlight Therapeutic Community with the provincial drug abuse institute and a foreign NGO was fragile. At the TC, they had difficulty weaving the Western psychological construct of the singular self through the Chinese scaffolding of institutional and cultural practices around the group. In thinking with the concepts of harm and reducing harm, I move across time and space to consider how current tensions link to and reflect: 1) the historical harms of opium imperialism; 2) reducing harm in translation; and, 3) reducing harm in the recent psycho-boom.

Therapeutic community-oriented day treatment program for Korean women with alcohol use disorder: a non-randomized pilot feasibility trial.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) among women in South Korea has been rising, causing public health problems. Yet women's treatment needs are mostly unmet in South Korea due to the lack of women-focused treatment programs. This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical outcomes of a therapeutic community (TC)-oriented day treatment program for Korean women with AUD on alcohol abstinence self-efficacy, forgiveness, and spirituality. METHODS: The current study employed a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group design with a pretest and posttest. Participants were assigned to 6-month TC-oriented day treatment program (n = 19) or usual treatment (n = 21). Feasibility (treatment completion rate) and acceptability (overall program satisfaction) were assessed. Alcohol abstinence was measured as a clinical outcome at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Repeated measures using Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy (AASE), Enright Forgiveness Inventory-Korea (EFI-K), and Spiritual Assessment Scale (SAS) were also obtained from both conditions at those three time points. RESULTS: Fifteen participants (78.9%) in the intervention group successfully completed the program. The overall program satisfaction ratings were very high (4.9 ± 0.2). Continuous abstinence rates at 6 months were significantly higher in the treatment group (78.9%) than in the control group (9.5%). Results of the two-way repeated measures ANOVA indicated that statistically significant two-way (group × time) interaction effects were found for the intervention group on AASE, EFI-K, and SAS but not for the control group on any of the outcomes. CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a TC-oriented intensive day treatment program to promote recovery in Korean women with AUD. This intervention merits further investigation as a potential strategy to help address alcohol abstinence self-efficacy, forgiveness and spirituality. TRIAL REGISTRATION: KCT0006386 (Cris.nih.go.kr).

Hospitalisation following therapeutic community drug and alcohol treatment for young people with and without a history of criminal conviction.

INTRODUCTION: This study examines the association between treatment in a therapeutic community for adolescents with drug and alcohol problems on hospitalisation outcomes up to 15 years later for all clients, and separately for those with and without a history of criminal conviction. METHOD: A quasi-experimental design was used to examine the linked administrative health and criminal justice records for all adolescents admitted to the Program for Adolescent Life Management (PALM) from January 2001 to December 2016 (n = 3059) in Sydney, Australia. ICD-10AM codes were used to designate hospitalisation outcomes as either physical injury, mental health problems, substance use disorders, or organic illness. The treatment and comparison groups were matched on factors associated with program retention, resulting in a final sample of 1266 clients. We examined the rate of hospitalisation up to 15 years posttreatment for all clients and stratified by prior conviction status using Cox regression analyses. RESULTS: The treatment group had significantly lower rates of hospitalisation for a physical injury (HR = 0.77 [95% CI = 0.61-0.98]), mental health problem (HR = 0.62 [95% CI = 0.47-0.81]), substance use disorder (HR = 0.59 [95% CI = 0.47-0.75]), and organic illness (HR = 0.71 [95% CI = 0.55-0.92]). There was a significant interaction between treatment and prior criminal conviction status on rate of hospitalisation for physical injury, suggesting that the effect of treatment on physical injury was significantly greater for clients with a prior criminal conviction. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents who engage in a therapeutic community treatment program may have a long-lasting reduction in the risk of subsequent hospitalisation. This also appears to apply to those with a history of criminal conviction.

Effectiveness of Therapeutic Community Program on Resilience and Change in Lifestyle in People With Alcohol Use Disorder.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a therapeutic community program on resilience and positive change of lifestyle in people with alcohol use disorder. This study used a quasi-experimental study design. The Therapeutic Community Program was conducted daily for 12 weeks from June 2017 to May 2018. Subjects were selected from the Therapeutic Community and a hospital. Of the 38 subjects, 19 subjects belonged to the experimental group and 19 subjects belonged to the control group. Our findings were that the Therapeutic Community Program has improved resilience and promoted global lifestyle changes in the experimental group compared with the control group.

"I've Got the Energy to Change, But I Haven't Got the Energy for This Kinda Therapy": A Qualitative Analysis of the Motivations Behind Democratic Therapeutic Community Drop-Out for Men With Sexual Convictions.

Prison-based democratic therapeutic communities (TCs) provide an alternative to mainstream prison, where prisoners can work on psychological difficulties and address offending behavior. Research demonstrates TCs are effective at reducing reoffending rates for residents who stay in therapy 18+ months, and those who drop out of TCs offend at a significantly higher rate than those who complete therapy. Thus, it is important to reduce attrition in TCs. No research has yet explored the explanations for TC drop out offered by those with sexual convictions. The present study uses Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to qualitatively explore the accounts of men with sexual convictions (n = 7) who dropped out of a TC in a UK prison. Results highlight that issues surrounding external responsivity, therapeutic relationships, and treatment readiness were salient in the participants' accounts of drop out. This research has implications for TCs seeking to better understand and address attrition of people with sexual convictions.

Estado, comunidades terapêuticas e neoliberalismo: um estudo sobre a política de drogas no Brasil / State, therapeutic communities and neoliberalism: a study on drug policy in Brazil

A partir das mudanças correntes na política de drogas brasileira, que incentivam a expansão de instituições denominadas Comunidades Terapêuticas (CTs) ­ unidades destinadas ao acolhimento de pessoas que fazem uso de drogas ­, tem-se feito cada vez mais necessários estudos sobre o tema. Diante do entendimento de que, para entender a inserção das CTs no Estado, é preciso expandir o olhar e complexificar a questão, identificamos a importância de uma discussão que aborde o modo de funcionamento do neoliberalismo em seus vieses de organização estatal e social. Por essa razão, este trabalho tem como objetivo ­ por meio de um estudo qualitativo e documental ­ identificar as afinidades entre o avanço da racionalidade neoliberal e a lógica de funcionamento das Comunidades Terapêuticas no Brasil. Para isso, trabalhamos com os fundamentos políticos do neoliberalismo, entendendo-o como uma racionalidade política que altera todos os aspectos da vida; identificamos os fundamentos das CTs e a relação dessas instituições com o Estado brasileiro por meio da análise de legislações; e discutimos, partindo da análise documental realizada nos jornais O Globo e Folha de São Paulo e em documentos oficiais, o cenário de alianças, disputas e discursos políticos que, ao se afinarem com os fundamentos neoliberais, possibilitaram a expansão das CTs. No que tange às afinidades encontradas, destacamos dois momentos políticos importantes: o primeiro, ainda sob o mandato de Dilma Rousseff (PT), entre 2011 e 2016, apresenta, principalmente, um discurso pluralista neoliberal aliado à ideia de liberdade negativa e à soberania compartilhada do Estado; o segundo ­ pós-impeachment, em 2016 ­ é de incremento aos fundamentos supracitados com a formação de uma plutocracia em defesa de uma moral conservadora aliada ao discurso de responsabilização individual e ao esvaziamento dos espaços públicos de discussão. Todos os fundamentos encontrados demonstram não só a afinidade entre a expansão neoliberal e as CTs como também o derretimento dos princípios da democracia. A partir desta análise, espera-se que este estudo possa qualificar e dar subsídios para a construção de políticas de saúde de caráter público destinadas a usuários de substâncias psicoativas que se sustentem a partir de uma lógica democrática.

Since the changes in the Brazilian drug policy are stimulating the growth of Therapeutic Communities (TCs) ­ residential units which offer care to drug users ­, studies on the subject prove to be needed. To understand the close relationship between the TCs and public policies, it is necessary to expand our debate, hence we will recognize the importance of a study that analyzes how neoliberalism works. That said, this thesis aims to identify ­ through qualitative study and documental analysis ­ the likeness between neoliberal rationality and TCs' operation. To achieve that, we have discussed the neoliberalism political foundations, understanding it as political rationality that changes the surroundings of life; we have identified the TCs foundations and their connection with the Brazilian legislation; through the documental analysis we have discussed, through the brazilian newspapers O Globo and Folha de São Paulo, as well as official documents, the alliances, disputes, and political discourses that, together with the neoliberal foundations, enabled the growth of TCs. In addition to that, we have highlighted two important political marks. The first ­ situated in Dilma Rousseff's (PT) presidential term (2011-2016) ­ presents a neoliberal pluralist discourse allied with the idea of negative liberty and the shared sovereignty of the State. The second ­ which took place after Dilma's impeachment, in 2016 ­ introduces, in addition to the above foundations, the formation of a plutocracy that defends a conservative morality allied with the discourse of individual accountability and the emptying of public spaces for discussion. All the foundations we found have shown not only the affinity between neoliberal and the TCs growth, but also the undoing of democracy. We expect this discussion to qualify and offer subsidies for the construction of public health policies for drug users that are sustained in democratic foundations.

Eigenvector centrality defines hierarchy and predicts graduation in therapeutic community units.

INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic communities (TCs) are mutual aid based residential programs for the treatment of substance abuse and criminal behavior. While it is expected that residents will provide feedback to peers, there has been no social network study of the hierarchy through which feedback flows. METHODS: Data for this study was drawn from clinical records of peer corrections exchanged between TC residents in six units kept over periods of less than two to over eight years. Four of the units served men while two served women. Hierarchy position was measured using eigenvector centrality, on the assumption that residents who were more central in the network of corrections were lower in the hierarchy. It was hypothesized that residents would rise in the hierarchy over time. This was tested using Wilcoxon paired samples tests comparing the mean and maximum eigenvector centrality for time in treatment with those in the last month of treatment. It was also hypothesized that residents who rose higher in the hierarchy were more likely to graduate, the outcome of primary interest. Logistic regression was used to test hierarchy position as a predictor of graduation, controlling for age, race, risk of recidivism as measured by the Level of Services Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) and days spent in the program. RESULTS: Residents averaged a statistically significantly lower eigenvector centrality in the last month in all units, indicating a rise in the hierarchy over time. Residents with lower maximum and average eigenvector centrality both over the length of treatment and in the last month of treatment were more likely to graduate in four of the six units, those with lower maximum and average eigenvector centrality in the last month but not over the length of treatment were more likely to graduate in one of the six units, while eigenvector centrality did not predict graduation in one unit. However, this last unit was much smaller than the others, which may have influenced the results. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that TC residents move through a social network hierarchy and that movement through the hierarchy predicts successful graduation.

José Luis Montoya Rico y las primeras reformas de la asistencia psiquiátrica de beneficencia / José Luis Montoya Rico and the initial reform of charitable psychiatric assistance

Revisamos en este artículo la producción escrita de José Luis Montoya Rico, psiquiatra de la Beneficencia Provincial en Oviedo, A Coruña y Alicante. Durante el tardofranquismo, escribió y dirigió los planes de reforma de la asistencia psiquiátrica en los Hospitales Psiquiátricos Provinciales de “La Cadellada”, Conxo y Jaén, dependientes de las Diputaciones Provinciales. El trabajo de Montoya ofrece una panorámica de la asistencia pública en materia de salud mental del país -estructura, necesidades y dificultades y referencias- e informa de las tensiones, modelos e influencias de la recepción profesional de la comunidad terapéutica durante ese mismo periodo. (AU)

This paper reviews José Luis Montoya Rico´s work, a psychiatrist in the Oviedo, A Coruña and Alicante charitable provincial hospitals. During the final years of Franco's dictatorship, Montoya wrote and advised the first reform plans of the “La Cadellada” and Conxo provincial mental hospitals. Montoyas’ work offers an overview of mental health care in Spain and contextualizes the professional reception of the therapeutic community during that period. (AU)