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Why Not Harm Reduction for Problem Gambling?
Harmful gambling is a public health issue. As types of gambling products and accessibility to gambling have increased, so too have concerns as to the harm associated with this behavior. While there is evidence of the harm cause by some forms of land-based gambling such as electronic gambling...
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Compassionate Care for Substance Users in Traditional Settings
Like many other mental health treatments, substance use treatment has struggled with high dropout rates and problems with engaging clients. Only 0.9 percent of people who have some substance use issues engage in treatment. While some of this may be the client’s internal reluctance to get care,...
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Striving for Compassionate Recovery-Oriented Substance Use Care
Nationally, people with substance use disorders in the United States are often treated with an expensive acute care model that highlights inpatient treatment as the hallmark component of treatment. For many, recovery is a life-long process, and the focus on acute care is a missed opportunity for...
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Let’s Strengthen Sober Housing Resources
Imagine someone drowning at night in the middle of the ocean. Suddenly a ship appears! Spotlights pinpoint the poor swimmer. A floatation device is tossed into the sea, and words of encouragement float down from the deck of the boat. The swimmer is quickly brought on board and provided with warm...
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Maintaining Recovery as a Central Focus of Substance Use Disorder Services
For years, the health care system treated addiction as an acute condition: an individual battling addiction would be diagnosed, treated, guided to support and then left to their own devices on whether to succeed, or fail, in recovery. The good news is: for New York State, that is no longer the...
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Maintaining a Focus on Recovery for People Within the Supported Housing System
The changes that have taken place over the last few years in the behavioral health field are affecting the way staff view “clients” as well as the way these same “clients” are being helped to view themselves. There is a swirl of information and expectations, and government funding is...
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Coming to Grips with Substance Use Issues Among Employees’ Young Adult Dependents
The impact of substance use and mental illness on the workplace has been well documented. But how well do employers grasp what’s at stake when faced with employees whose adult dependents are grappling with a mental health or substance use issue? These employers are confronted with two...
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10 Percent of US Adults Have Drug Use Disorder at Some Point
A survey of American adults revealed that drug use disorder is common, co-occurs with a range of mental health disorders and often goes untreated. The study, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, found that about 4...
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Getting Help: What Are Your Rights in the Workplace if You Are Battling Addiction
According to a 2012 survey by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (NYS OASAS), 10 percent of all-American adults, ages 18 and older, consider themselves to be in recovery from drug or alcohol problems. That means many of the...
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Creating Innovative Programs for Young Adults in Treatment
As more opioid-addicted young adults are entering treatment facilities, many addiction professionals are seeking alternative ways to guide this demographic into recovery. Marworth Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment Center’s young adult population (ages 18-25) doubled from 159 in 2009 to...
