Adjunct Clinical Asst. Professor University of Pennsylvania Conshohocken, Pennsylvania
The field of Addiction Treatment has been making great strides towards viewing addiction as a chronic medical illness in the past 5-10 years; however, our approach to treatment delivery has not reflected these changes. Here we first make the case for looking at addiction as a chronic medical illness comparing genetic heritability, relapse factors and lessons learned from chronic medical illnesses and their treatment. We will then briefly present various treatment studies examining the public’s expectations of treatment and various goals for treatment. We then explore evidence for the effectiveness of treatment - Does it work? Compared to what? This will include a comparison of treatment vs. no treatment and the role of motivation in treatment. We will evaluate the current treatment model and how reseearchers and providers have rountinely measured success in treatment. A new “staged care” treatment model will be presented with suggestions on how to evaluate treatment in this new model. This model will include the role of detoxification in treatment, the development and use of counselor ‘toolkits’ in treatment, and studies utilizing computerized systems in treatment such as the “Computer Assisted System for patient assessment and referral” or CASPAR study. We will also present new, scientifically studied methods for purchasing, evaluating, and extending treatment including performance-based contracting, concurrent recovery monitoring and focused continuing care. Finally, we look at the implications of for treatment when we approach addiction from a chronic care model.
Learning Objectives:
After this activity participants should be able to
Describe factors that lead us to view and treat addiction as a chronic disease.
Identify predictors of relapse for both chronic medical diseases and the disease of addiction.
Assess the function and role of detoxification in treatment.
