| Traditional inpatient alcoholism and drug addiction rehabilitation programs, such as those based on the Minnesota Model of treatment, routinely provided patients with up to 4 weeks of treatment. Health-care insurance industry cost constraints within the last 2 decades have been so severe that many current inpatient rehabilitation programs are now discharging patients after only several days. Beyond the obvious negative impact these changes have had on the depth and quality of treatment services, prematurely discharged patients are often deprived of the assessment opportunities inherent to the longer term programs of the past. Some patients are now discharged from treatment with only minimal attention being given to their individual postrecovery needs.;A pilot study was conducted to explore the potential of the 16PF - 5th Edition for determining the aftercare needs of short-term, residential alcoholic and drug-addicted patients. Recovery-specific language was successfully substituted for the standard and more technical language of the 16PF Clinical Report Personality Profile and Global Scale summary sheets to inform patients and their therapists of critical recovery needs. The results of 15 separate test administrations were reviewed with patients and therapists to determine the extent to which the revised language could compensate for significantly diminished evaluations and needs assessment opportunities caused today by premature discharge of patients from treatment. Participating patients' and clinicians' verbal responses indicated that the process has potential and was a useful mechanism for assessing and imparting information about patients' recovery needs. |
