Therapist-patient profile matching for more effective treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) is especially important to address the current opioid crisis, according to the author of a recent study on the issue from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
“The results from this study have important application to performance-based practice,” said the study’s lead author, David A. Patterson Silver Wolf, associate professor. “Given the high fail rates facing patients entering SUD treatment, it is imperative that traditional treatment approaches be challenged.”
In the study led by Patterson Silver Wolf, researchers collected data from 11 SUD treatment outpatient programs, comprising 2,230 patients and 69 therapists. Analysis was conducted to understand the effect of therapist–patient profile matching on treatment completion success rate.