Evaluation of a residential AA program.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Serenity Lodge alcohol rehabilitation program by comparing a group of 137 men who entered the program with the same number of similar men who did not enter the program after an admission to a detoxification hospital. The residential program, for which people must pay board, is based on the AA philosophy and reality therapy. Follow-up interviews were conducted with three-quarters of the men in each group. Even after allowing for spontaneous remission as measured by the improvement in the control group, it was apparent that for a wide range of outcome criteria, and not just the obtaining of abstinence, the program was having a beneficial effect for the men who stayed at Serenity Lodge.