Continuity of care in addictions treatment: the role of advocacy and coordination in case management.

Although advocacy and coordination are recognized as important aspects of the addictions treatment process, little research has been done in these areas. The present study examined advocacy and coordination at two programs where the mandate was assessment, referral, and case management. Both programs spent a similar proportion of client-related effort on advocacy and/or coordination (about 25% of contact time, accounting for about half of contacts made regarding clients). The majority of advocacy and coordination contacts were with other agencies about clients (the remainder with family and friends of clients). A framework for advocacy and coordination was developed that allowed contacts to be categorized into mutually exclusive advocacy or coordination activities. Advocacy was defined as any activity undertaken to obtain something for clients; coordination involved the giving or receiving of information regarding specific clients. Sources of variability in the provision of advocacy and coordination were found between the programs that could be attributed to differences between the systems within which the programs operated, as well as differences in program clientele. In terms of client characteristics, it was found that females were more likely than males to receive advocacy; those over 65 years were most likely to receive both advocacy and coordination; those who were referred by school or employer or by corrections were most likely to receive coordination; those with no prior treatment were most likely to receive advocacy; and self-referrals and those who had had prior treatment were most likely to receive neither advocacy nor coordination. Receiving advocacy or coordination was not found to reduce the need by clients for other case management services, such as supportive counseling. The findings are discussed in terms of the need for knowledge regarding highly variable aspects of treatment such as advocacy and coordination. New research approaches (as taken in the present study) are needed to begin to examine the contribution of these types of flexible and ancillary interventions to the recovery process.