Addiction Research & Therapy

Addiction is a chronic health condition that aff ects 40 percent of the American public. It costs society about $600 billion annually, is responsible for 25% of all hospital admissions, and is implicated in 80% of incarcerations. Of the estimated 23-25 million people who need addiction treatment, about 2.5 million (10%) receive it. Stigma, insurance barriers, and the perception by many that they don’t have a problem have limited access to care. Eff orts to reduce stigma through awareness programs, the 2008 Mental Health and Addiction Parity Act, and the infl ux of newly insured patients through the ACA have sparked investor interest and led to rapid growth of inpatient rehabilitation programs. However, despite wider acceptance of addiction as a chronic brain disorder, treatment systems continue to be developed and defi ned by an emphasis on acute, time-limited treatments. For more than forty years, addiction treatment has been defined and judged by this misplaced perception that a fi xed duration of treatment will “fi x the problem”. Patients and families

have been led to believe that a month in rehab would “take care of the problem”.

This fragmented approach fails to provide the life-long management necessary to ensure sustained remission. Th e greatly underemphasized problem is the absence of substantial and comprehensive community based continuing care and the paucity of prevention, early identifi cation and intervention eff orts. Relegating follow-up care, prevention and early intervention to the sidelines contradicts the standard treatment of chronic disease. New ideas, innovative service delivery methods, alternative clinical interventions, and technological supports are not robustly developed, tested, and integrated. It is time for a new vision that addresses addiction as the chronic disease it is. Th is workshop will describe an approach that incorporates prevention, early intervention, and extended engagement with traditional models of care to create a seamless, integrated system of care that addresses addiction as a chronic condition that can produce more favorable long term outcomes