Residential Treatment for Individuals With Substance Use Disorders: Assessing the Evidence

Residential treatment models fill a niche for some consumers with substance use disorders, but documenting their effectiveness has been a challenge. An abundance of studies have evaluated this treatment approach, according to this literature review, but overall they lacked methodological rigor and appropriate control groups. Part of the difficulty in studying residential treatment is the lack of uniformity in basic features, such as staffing and length of stay, and a lack of information about longer-term outcomes. So far, the evidence base for residential treatment is moderate, at best.