AbstractsPsychology

Many men seek to address their substance use issues in a variety of resources including hospitals, detoxification centres, treatment programs, supportive recovery housing and more. How policy is constructed and implemented has a direct impact on how effectively clients achieve their recovery goals. There is little literature on the topic of how policy is developed and implemented in residential addictions services. What research could be found did not include the voices of the recipients of these services. The goal of this research is to gain insight into the experiences of people accessing residential addictions services to inform policy development and implementation. Thorne’s (2008) interpretive description was the methodology used to guide this study. Eleven qualitative interviews with men accessing residential addictions services were conducted. Several themes were identified and an interpretive description was made. Eight theories are proposed. Several recommendations were formulated. Three suggestions for future research considerations are discussed. Graduate