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Substance Abuse Treatment
"People who are addicted to drugs come from all walks of life. Many suffer from physical or mental health, occupational, or social problems that make their addictive disorders much more difficult to treat. Even if there are few associated problems, the severity of addiction itself ranges widely among people" (NIDA, 1999, October). In fact, "no single treatment is appropriate for all individuals. Matching treatment settings, interventions, and services to each individual's particular problems and needs is critical to his or her ultimate success in returning to productive functioning in the family, workplace, and society" (NIDA, 1999, October). Figure 8-3 represents the components needed for a comprehensive drug abuse and dependence treatment system for youth and adults.
Some of the individual issues that need to be considered to achieve satisfactory treatment outcomes are (NIDA, 1999, October):
- Age
- Race
- Culture
- Sexual orientation
- Gender
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- Pregnancy
- Parenting
- Housing
- Employment
- History of physical and/or sexual abuse
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- A Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Knowledge Development and Application program showed that one year after treatment, 40 percent of women eliminated or reduced their dependence on welfare (CSAT, 1999).
- Criminal activity is significantly decreased during and after treatment (CSAT, 1999).
- Fifty-five percent of the costs of alcohol and other drug abuse are borne by either society, governments, private insurance companies or victims (Center for Substance Abuse Research, 1998).
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"Treatment varies depending on the type of drug and the characteristics of the patient. The best programs provide a combination of therapies and other services."
-National Institute for Drug Abuse
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- Eighty-two percent of adults who received treatment reported they were abstinent 60 days after discharge (TCADA, Legislative Update, 2000, October).
NIDA (1999, October) reports that a number of research driven studies have concluded that addiction treatment is as effective as treatments for other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Travis County is in a unique position to expand or adopt various "best practice" programs to better serve those who abuse or are addicted to alcohol or other drugs. Various treatment programs are useful and later in this assessment a review of some of the "best practice" services will be highlighted. It is recommended that a comprehensive approach to determining and funding "best practice" initiatives in Travis County be developed in the ongoing planning process.
A recent cost benefit analysis performed by Texas Perspectives, Inc., notes that "methodological improvements and wide-ranging studies have begun to produce plausible and defensible evidence that substance abuse programs not only cover their own costs in the aggregate, but in many cases actually generate substantial net returns for society" (Texas Perspectives, 2000). It is calculated that over $3 billion is saved annually due to treatment services related to alcohol and drug abuse. Specifically, for every dollar spent on societal costs related to alcohol and drug abuse, there could be a 300 to 500 percent return if sufficient prevention and treatment services were available. Thus, investment in proven substance abuse prevention and treatment services would result in lower overall costs (Texas Perspectives, 2000).
The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment reports that between 1991 and 1998, nearly 60 percent of people needing treatment did not receive it. The magnitude of substance abuse as a major health problem warrants alignment of resources to better understand and respond to the need. A comparison between the societal costs of addiction, heart disease, and cancer indicates that addiction issues cost more than heart disease and cancer together. However, federal appropriations for research on addiction receive half as much funding as research for heart disease and cancer as reflected in Figures 8-4 & 8-5 (Physicians Leadership on National Drug Policy, 2000).
Of the five million people with severe drug addiction, a little more than two million received treatment - A gap of almost 60%.
-Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, August 30, 2000
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The need for substance abuse and dependence treatment in Travis County will continue to rise due to the fact that our population growth is accelerating. As noted earlier, there has been a 24.6 percent population increase between the years 1990 and 1999. Future planning activities must consider strategies to address the impact of substance abuse in a community that is growing faster than its resources for treatment.
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