Table 2.
Eleven recovery housing reports generated by three randomized control trials and two quasi-experimental designs: description, demographics, retention, primary substance, and outcomes.
| Article | Study design | Interventions | Sample | Follow-ups | Retention rate | Primary substance* | Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Size (N) | Gender | Race/ethnicity | Mean age (SD) | |||||||
| Busto et al. (31) Parent Study: Jason et al. (22) |
RCT | Exp #1: Oxford House Exp #2: Therapeutic Community Control: usual continuing care arrangements decided by participant |
Post residential SUD treatment and criminal justice reentry/case management programs. | N=270 | Male 83% Female 17% |
African American 74.1% White 21.1% Hispanic 3.3% other 1.5% |
39 | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | Exp #1: 82% Exp #2: 81% Control: 78% |
Heroin 43.2% crack cocaine 28.9% alcohol 14.7% marijuana 7.1% polysubstance 5.6% amphetamine/ methamphetamine 0.4% |
Exp #1: At baseline solitary activities (reading/writing) were the most frequently endorsed important activities (31%) which changed to education/work at follow-up (27.4%). Exp #2: At baseline solitary activities (reading/writing) were most frequently endorsed important activities (25%) which stayed the same at follow-up (14.1%) along with self-improvement (14.1%) and entertainment (14.5%). Control: At baseline solitary activities (reading/writing) were most frequently endorsed important activities (31.8%) which changed to education/work at follow-up (26.1%). |
| Chavarria et al. (27) Parent Study: Jason et al (21) |
RCT | Exp: Oxford House Control: usual continuing care with case-worker referrals to treatment and community resources and arrangements decided by participants |
Post residential treatment | N=150 | Female 62% Male 38% |
African American 77.3% White 11.3% Latino 8% Other 3.3% |
37.07 (7.96) | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | Exp: 89% Control: 86% |
cocaine 60% alcohol 56% cannabis 38% heroin/opioids 35% sedatives 28% amphetamines 20% |
Exp condition explained 63% of abstaining at 2 years. |
| Doleac et al. (30) reanalysis of parent study: Jason et al. (22) |
RCT | Exp #1: Oxford House Exp #2: Therapeutic Community Control: usual continuing care arrangements decided by participant |
Post residential SUD treatment and criminal justice reentry/case management programs. | N=270 | Male 83% Female 17% |
African American 74.1% White 21.1% Hispanic 3.3% other 1.5% |
39 | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | Exp #1: 82% Exp #2: 81% Control: 78% |
heroin 43.2% crack cocaine 28.9% alcohol 14.7% marijuana 7.1% polysubstance 5.6% amphetamine/ methamphetamine 0.4% |
Oxford House: Significantly increased days incarcerated by 2.3 per month compared to control. Therapeutic Community: Significantly reduced days worked by 2.3 days per month and reduced income by $238 per month compared to control. No significant difference on days of alcohol use, days of drug use, illegal income, legal issues, or psychiatric hospitalizations. Outcomes not included in reanalysis: continuous alcohol use, continuous drug use, and cost-to-benefit. |
| Jason et al. (21) (Parent Study) |
RCT | Exp: Oxford House Control: usual continuing care with case-worker referrals to treatment and community resources and arrangements decided by participants |
Post residential substance use disorder treatment | N=150 | Female 62% Male 38% |
African American 77.3% White 11.3% Latino 8% other 3.3% |
37.07 (7.96) | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | over 90% | cocaine 60% alcohol 56% cannabis 38% heroin/opioids 35% sedatives 28% amphetamines 20% |
Exp: 64.8% abstinent, monthly income $989.40, incarcerated 3%. All outcomes significant compared to usual continuing care. Control: 31.3% abstinent, monthly income $440.00, incarcerated 9%. |
| Jason et al. (26) Parent Study: Jason et al. (21) |
RCT | Exp: Oxford House Control: usual continuing care with case-worker referrals to treatment and community resources and arrangements decided by participants |
Post residential substance use disorder treatment | N=150 | Female 62% Male 38% |
African American 77.3% White 11.3% Latino 8% other 3.3% |
37.07 (7.96) | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | Exp: 89% Control: 86% |
cocaine 60% alcohol 56% cannabis 38% heroin/opioid 35% sedative 28% amphetamine 20% |
Exp: Any substance use past 6 months (31.3%), employed in past 30 days (76.1%), awaiting criminal charges in past 30 days (0%) self-regulation increased. All outcomes significant compared to control. Control: Any substance use past 6 months (64.8%), employed past 30 days (48.6%), awaiting criminal charges (5.6%). Additional outcomes not tested for significant difference at 24-months: 14 mothers assigned to Oxford House obtained custody of their children while one mother lost custody; in contrast to usual care, six mothers obtained custody of their children, and two mothers lost custody. Living in their own home was reported by 40% of Oxford House group compared to 13% of usual care. |
| Jason et al. (22) (Parent Study) |
RCT | Exp #1: Oxford House Exp #2: Therapeutic Community Control: usual continuing care arrangements decided by participant |
Post residential SUD treatment and criminal justice reentry/case management programs. | N=270 | Male 83% Female 17% |
African American 74.1% White 21.1% Hispanic 3.3% other 1.5% |
39 | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | Exp #1: 82% Exp #2: 81% Control: 78% |
heroin 43.2% crack cocaine 28.9% alcohol 14.7% marijuana 7.1% polysubstance 5.6% amphetamine/ methamphetamine 0.4% |
Continuous abstinence from alcohol over two years significantly higher in Oxford House compared to Therapeutic Community and continuing care as usual: Exp #1: 66% Exp #2: 40% Control: 49% Money received from employment in the past 30 days significantly higher in Oxford House compared to Therapeutic Community: Exp #1: $680 Exp #2: $319 Control: $579 Number of paid workdays in the past 30 days significantly higher in Oxford House compared to Therapeutic community and continuing care as usual: Exp #1: 11.27 Exp #2: 6.37 Control: 8.45 Cost to benefit analysis showed net benefit per person in favor in Oxford House: Exp #1: $12,738 Exp #2: $ -7,510 Control: $3 No significant difference between groups on days using alcohol, days using other drugs, continuous abstinence from other drugs, illegal income obtained, legal issues, incarcerations, or psychiatric hospitalizations. |
| Jason et al. (24) (Parent Study) |
QED | Exp: Oxford House Control: usual continuing care arrangements decided by participant |
Women formerly incarcerated in the past two years | N=200 | Female 100% | African American 74.5% other 25.5% |
39.9 (8.58) |
6, 12, 18, 24 months | Exp: 86% Control: 84% |
heroin 47% crack/cocaine 29.5% alcohol 12.5% marijuana 7.5% other opiate 1.5% amphetamine 1% hallucinogen 1% |
Death rates were higher in the control (4) compared to Oxford House (0) but not tested for significance. No difference between groups on substance use, employment, or arrests. |
| Lo Sasso et al. (28) Parent Study: Jason et al. (21) |
Cost-Effectiveness of RCT | Exp: Oxford House Control: usual continuing care with case-worker referrals to treatment and community resources and arrangements decided by participants |
Post residential treatment | N=129 | Female 62% Male 38% |
African American 77.3% White 11.3% Latino 8% other 3.3% |
37.07 (7.96) | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | over 90% | cocaine 60% alcohol 56% cannabis 38% heroin/opioid 35% sedative 28% amphetamine 20% |
Net benefit of $29,022 per Oxford resident relative to usual care. |
| Majer et al. (25) (Parent Study) |
QED | Exp #1: Oxford House Exp #2: Therapeutic Community Control: usual continuing care arrangements decided by participant |
Women formerly incarcerated in the past two years (24) and post criminal justice system recruited from substance use disorder treatment facilities or reentry/case management programs (22) | N=470 | Female 90.2% Male 9.8% |
African American 74.2% White 21% other 4% |
40.2 (9.1) |
6, 12, 18, 24 months | QED: Exp: 86% Con: 84% RCT: Exp: 82% Con 1: 81% Con 2: 78% |
heroin/opiates 45% cocaine 29.2% alcohol 13.6% cannabis 7.3% amphetamine/ methamphetamine.7% |
Exp #1: Decreased number of days of substance use in the past 6 months from baseline (40.30) to 24 months (30.48), significant compared to Therapeutic Community and usual continuing care. Exp #2: Increased number of days of substance use in the past 6 months from baseline (35.20) to 24 months (47.17). Control: Increased number of days of substance use in the past 6 months from baseline (26.49) to 24 months (39.90). |
| Mueller et al, (29) Parent Study: Jason et al. (21) |
RCT | Exp: Oxford House Control: usual continuing care with case-worker referrals to treatment and community resources and arrangements decided by participants |
Post residential treatment | N=150 | Female 62% Male 38% |
African American 77.3% European American 11.3% Hispanic/Latino 8% Asian American 3.3% |
37.1 (8.0) | 6, 12, 18, 24 months | Exp: 89% Control: 86% |
cocaine 60% alcohol 56% cannabis 38% heroin/opioid 35% sedative 28% amphetamine 20% |
Exp: Number of people in recovery from alcohol in personal network significantly increased over time compared to control. Number of heavy drinkers in network stayed the same over time which was significantly different from control which increased. No significant difference between group on number of alcohol abstainers, number of light drinkers, number of moderate drinkers, network heterogeneity or size. |
| Tuten et al. (23) (Parent Study) |
RCT | Exp #1: recovery housing Exp #2: recovery housing plus reinforcement-based treatment Control: usual continuing care with referrals to treatment and community resources and arrangements decided by participants |
Patients who completed medication-assisted opioid detoxification | N=243 | Male 74.1% Female 25.9% |
African American 67.9% | 38.7 (8.5) |
1, 3, 6 months | Across 1,3,6 months 85% of all scheduled follow-up interviews and 77% of urine samples were collected | opioid dependence 100% cocaine dependence 66.1% |
Exp #1: 37% drug abstinence significantly higher than control. Earned income significantly higher than control at 3 month but not 6 months. No significant difference in illegal activity compared to control. Exp #2: 50% drug abstinence significantly higher than control. Earned income significantly higher than control at 3 month and maintained at 6 months. No significant difference in illegal activity compared to control. Control: 13% drug abstinence. |
Exp, experimental condition; Control, control condition; RCT, randomized control trial; QED, quasi-experimental design, *adds up to over 100% if participants endorsed all substances used as opposed to primary substance alone.