A study of barriers to the engagement of significant others in adult addiction treatment.

Using the focus group methodology, this study identified personal and structural barriers to the engagement of significant others in an outpatient addictions treatment program. Twenty-eight significant others (family members, other kin, and friends) associated with 21 patients participated in one of three focus group sessions. The cut-and-paste technique was used to analyze the narrative data. Improving communication and reconnecting patients with a supportive community were forms of support identified. Patients' willingness to accept support and therapists' invitation to involve significant others in the treatment were identified as necessary precursors to their initial involvement. Providing educational and therapeutic support to significant others were endorsed as important elements in maintaining their involvement. Offering a diversity of therapeutic services beyond standard office hours, providing home visits and child care were viewed as facilitators for their involvement. It became apparent that support providers tended to resent having their own needs ignored. Feelings of isolation, fatalism, loneliness, ignorance, and fear were expressed by significant others. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.