Saudi addiction therapeutic communities:Are they implementing the essential elements of addiction therapeutic communities.

Objective: To investigate whether Saudi therapeutic communities (TCs) implement essential elements of TCs.

Methods: This is a cross sectional study where the author visited all of the Saudi addiction TCs between September and December 2014. At least one week was spent in each TC, attending many therapeutic activities, reviewing patient files and program documents, and interviewing directors, treating teams and residents. At the end of each visit, a short version of the Survey of Essential Elements Questionnaire (SEEQ) was conducted, which is a reliable tool to evaluate the essential elements of TCs.

Results: In 2014, there were only 5 TCs in Saudi Arabia. All of them were traditional TCs for adult male residents. The average total score was 3.72 out of 5 on the SEEQ. Regarding the 6 dimensions of the SEEQ, the TCs scored 4.15 on the TC perspective, 3.72 on the agency treatment approach and structure, 4.40 on community as therapeutic agent, 2.60 on educational and work activities, 3.50 on formal therapeutic elements, and 4.3 on process. There were no significant differences in dimensions scores among the 5 Saudi TCs.

Conclusion: In general, all of the Saudi TCs scored fairly high on the SEEQ, which may reflect a sufficient implementation of the TC as a therapeutic model. Educational and work activities lagged behind the other dimensions and should be improved and reevaluated.