This group is a face-to-face meeting that convenes on the premises of the Kaiser Permanente Chemical Dependency Recovery Program in Union City.  This is an outpatient treatment program that draws clients from a largely suburban area southeast of San Francisco.  There are three other LifeRing meetings in this facility on different days.  Kaiser Permanente is said to be the largest Health Maintenance Organization in the U.S. and treats more patients for chemical dependency than any other program in the country.

Thirty persons of the 31 present at that LifeRing meeting filled out the questionnaire. This is too small a sample to support large conclusions.  Still, the results may be of interest. Here is a summary.

As might be expected, more than 80 per cent of this group were currently enrolled in the Kaiser program or had been enrolled there within the past year.  Eighty per cent had been referred to the LifeRing meeting by a counselor, and the remainder had been referred by a friend, had seen a LifeRing brochure, or heard a LifeRing speaker. 

Nearly half of this group (14 out of 30) said they had participated in LifeRing for more than a year.  Nine had participated for less than a year but more than three months.  Six had participated for fewer than three months.  Two were experiencing their first or second contact with LifeRing. 

All but one of the respondents said they would recommend LifeRing to their friends.  Among the qualities of the LifeRing meeting that gave them the most satisfaction, there was a virtual tie between "everyone participates," "crosstalk is encouraged," "strong support for abstinence," "absence of religion," "encouragement to build your personal recovery program," and "positive, empowering atmosphere," with more than 60 per cent of the respondents mentioning each of these qualities.

Among the improvements in LifeRing that this group of people wanted to see, "more meetings" was the leader, with 8 of the 16 responses.  The remaining 8 responses were scattered, with such remarks as "It's been great," "I don't see how it could improve. It's much better than AA or anything else I have been to," and "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." One respondent asked for "more structure."

About 80 per cent of this group had read one or another of the LifeRing brochures (handouts).  About half had visited the unhooked.com web site.  About 40 per cent had used the Recovery by Choice workbook.  Other LifeRing titles were known to fewer than 20 per cent.

Only about 15 per cent of this sample (n=4) had participated in an online LifeRing meeting (chat room, email list, or forum).  More than 70 per cent said they "never" used LifeRing online.  Sixty per cent of these said the reason was that "I prefer face to face contact," and the remainder said they had no Internet access, or did not use computers.  One said he did not know that the online resources existed.  More than half said they attended a LifeRing face meeting about once a week, and most of the remainder attended more than once a week.

Nearly 80 per cent of this group had also attended AA or NA at some time in the past.  Only four people had never attended any recovery support group other than LifeRing.  But when asked which support groups they attended currently, more than half (16 of 30) said they now attended LifeRing exclusively.  The remainder currently attended AA or NA (about one third) or aftercare support groups provided by the treatment program, along with LifeRing.  Of those who attended both LifeRing and other support groups, 85 per cent said that  their "main" support group was LifeRing.

Asked what they found in LifeRing that they didn't get from their other support groups, the sample responded with comments such as "Better format", "Always get to say how I'm doing," "The people here are more real," "Much higher comfort level," "No religion," "Positive input," and "Friendly."  What did they get from their other support groups that LifeRing didn't have?  Two people mentioned "spirituality" and "higher power."  One mentioned more convenient meeting time.  Five said "nothing," and one person wrote "coffee." 

Sixty five per cent (18 people) said they intended to keep attending LifeRing indefinitely -- maybe as long as they lived.  Six people said they weren't sure. 

Eighty per cent said they were attending support group meetings of their own free will.  The remainder said that their treatment program required them to attend.

More than forty per cent of the sample (n=13) said they were raised Protestant.  Nine people said they were raised in other religions.  Eight said they were not raised in a religion.  Asked about their current church attendance, six people said they attended church regularly every week, four said they went once or twice a month, three said they went once or twice a year, and 16 (55 per cent) said they did not attend at all. 

Exactly half the sample (15) said that they had not been diagnosed with any mental health disorder during the past year.  The other half had received such a diagnosis, with "clinical depression" by far the leading item. 

Eighteen of this sample were male, 12 were female.  They ranged in age from 27 to 81, with the average age being 48.  All but five identified their ethnic group as white.  About one fifth (six people) had gone as far as high school graduation.  Nearly half (14 people) had attended some college or junior college.  A third (n=10) had finished college and/or some postgraduate education.  Forty per cent described their current occupation as "Professional/technical," and the remainder were scattered among "managerial-administrative" (5), "laborer" (3), "service" (3), "clerical" (2) and other.

-- Compiled by Marty N.  (M.A., Sociology, Brandeis University, 1967 (lol!))