Retention in Psychosocial Services Knowledge Item 01: Results from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Innovative Models of Care

Knowledge Item: CA-Retention in Psychosocial Services-01
Composite Retention Curves for Ten Programs

Cox (proportional hazards) and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to study the time that 2063 clients, in 10 programs, were retained in psychosocial services designed to support their medical treatment. Combining data from the ten programs, the mean estimated time of program retention is 710.73 days (standard error = 17.41 days). The median time of retention in program is 529 days.

Projects were able to retain clients for a median time of about 18 months. Given that this is a high-need group of individuals with high levels of instability due to drug use, homelessness, and financial issues, it can be concluded that these programs are models for linking and engaging clients in HIV psychosocial services. Program termination occurred because of death from AIDS for 65 (3.2%) of the clients. Since 46.1 percent of the clients admitted to the programs remain in treatment at the conclusion of the data collection period, the average and median retention estimates given here are lower bounds.

More Information: Survival Function or Survival Curve

Knowledge Item Citation: Huba, G. J., Melchior, L. A., Panter, A. T., and the HRSA/HAB SPNS Cooperative Agreement Steering Committee (1998-2001). Knowledge Item: CA-Retention in Psychosocial Services-01 from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements on Innovative Models of Care, The Measurement Group Knowledge Base on HIV/AIDS Care, Online at www.TheMeasurementGroup.com.

Last Updated: March 25, 2005; data through June 15, 1999; analyses conducted December 1999.

Knowledge Base Citation: The Knowledge Base and this Knowledge Item were designed and authored by G. J. Huba, Ph.D.; in collaboration with Lisa A. Melchior, Ph.D.; A. T. Panter, Ph.D.; and the staff of The Measurement Group. Cite this work as "Huba, G. J., Melchior, L. A., and Panter, A. T. (1998 - 2001). The Measurement Group Knowledge Base on HIV/AIDS Care. On the World Wide Web: http://www.TheMeasurementGroup.com."

Questions or Comments: Contact The Measurement Group.

Use of Knowledge Base Information: Acceptable Uses and Limitations.

Collaborators from Participating Projects: Cooperative Agreement Steering Committee 1999.

Participating Projects: This Knowledge Base is based on the service delivery experiences of 27 Cooperative Agreement Projects on Innovative Models of HIV/AIDS Care. These projects and the Evaluation and Dissemination Center which produced this Knowledge Base were funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) as Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) between 1994 and 1999. Click the Model Programs button above for descriptions of the projects that contributed to this specific Knowledge Item, a list of key staff, and project grant numbers.

Why This Evaluation was Conducted: Editorial.

More Information: Design of this Knowledge Base.

Recommended Citation Format for Web Materials: American Psychological Association Publication Manual Section, Revised 2001.

Work on the Knowledge Base and the cross-cutting evaluation was supported in part by Grant Number 5 U90 HA 00030-05 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau's (HAB) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS). The contents of this Knowledge Base are solely the responsibility of The Measurement Group and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HRSA/HAB's Special Projects of National Significance nor may they represent the positions of the individual grantees whose projects are included in the cross-cutting evaluation.