Recovery Community Center Visits and Activities: A Description Using a Daily Diary Approach

This study builds on prior work to describe the experiences of attendees at recovery community centers (RCCs) with improved ecological validity. Brief daily surveys were collected for 10 days from 94 RCC attendees from semi-rural, industrial towns. Participants reported at the end of each day whether they had visited their RCC on that day, how long they spent there, and which of nine activities they participated in while at the RCC. These activities included attending recovery meetings, such as mutual support 12-step meetings, socializing, and volunteering. RCCs were visited on 30.9% of reported days. The modal amount of time spent at the RCCs was 1–2 hours and the most frequently endorsed activity was attending recovery meetings. There was a wide range of intraclass correlation coefficients for activity endorsement (.24–.96), and for the percentage of participants who endorsed each activity (6.8%−69.3%), suggesting that RCCs facilitate individuals’ participation in the activities they most need and also provide the flexibility to visit and participate in activities on days that attendees may need additional support.