Impact of a Culturally Relevant Residential Treatment Program on Post-discharge Outcomes for Hawai`i Youth

Abstract

Drug abuse among adolescents, particularly among Native Hawaiian youth, is a serious concern on the Hawaiian Islands. Native Hawaiians possess the highest incidence of drug abuse and lowest success rates with traditional treatment programs. Some evidence suggests that culturally relevant treatment programs can be more effective for this population, but such evidence is limited. This study looked at the behavioral impact of a drug treatment program in Hawai`i using a culturally relevant model. Youth who were clinically discharged from the Marimed Foundation’s Kailana Model for Residential Treatment were compared to those youth who were non-clinically discharged. With no significant pre-treatment differences between the two groups, results of a follow-up 12-months post-discharge found significant improvement in arrest rates, number of days until re-arrest, and number of total arrests. While these are only the results for one specific culturally relevant treatment program, it does offer the foundation for further investigation into this type of treatment model.