Clients and Outcomes of a Methadone Treatment Program

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Abstract
An attempt was made to describe the clients, to identify the objectives the Edmonton Drug Treatment Clinic [Alberta, Canada] had set for itself, and to document the degree to which these objectives were being met. The Edmonton Drug Treatment Clinic opened in March 1972 for the treatment of heroin dependent individuals. Treatment was provided on an outpatient basis and included methadone, individual counseling, group therapy and a small-scale recreational program. The multidisciplinary staff consisted of an administrator, a receptionist, a doctor, a counselor-coordinator, 5 counsellors, a pharmacist and 3 institutional attendants. Because the focal point of the study was the Clinic staffs'' objectives for their clients, each member of the treatment staff was asked in an individual interview to state treatment goals, i.e., what changes would have to take place in the lives of the clients for the staff to feel the treatment provided had been successful. Each staff member''s stated goals were then translated into specific measurement operations. The Clinic''s goals were primarily social rather than psychological. In this way, this program is similar to most methadone treatment programs. The staff believed that heroin abuse was only a part of a maladaptive life style adopted by their clientele. The measurements taken reflect the staff''s bias that broad and significant changes in the life style of the clientele would have to occur in order for any cessation in the illegal drug use to be more than temporary.