Broadening the Base of Treatment for Alcohol Problems (1990) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Chapter 14--An overview and definitions
Chapter 14--An overview and definitions
Pages 344-355
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 344... ...
Throughout the history of its funding of specialty programming for the treatment of alcohol problems, the federal government has emphasized that there are certain populations or subgroups that must receive special attention because of their unique characteristics and their inability to receive appropriate treatment within what might be called "generics treatment programs (e.g., USDHEW, 1974; USDHHS, 1986~. These special populations have been defined in terms of either their apparently greater risk for alcohol-related problems, whether the reasons are primarily biological or sociocultural (e.g., American Indians, children of alcoholics)
|
From page 345... ...
As Gomberg noted, The term has come to mean those groups who have special treatment needs and who have been underserved (Gomberg, 1982:351~." A major arena in which there has been an effort to define special populations for the treatment of alcohol problems has been legislative activity at the federal level. Special populations first began to be identified legislatively in the mid 1960s when the Alcohol Countermeasures program was established within the National Highway Safety Administration; this effort ultimately led to the funding by NIAAA of categorical grants for the treatment of drinking drivers (Diesenhaus, 1982~.
|
From page 346... ...
continued this emphasis on services to specially designated populations, including both a separate chapter on special populations and a discussion of the research findings and clinical observations in the chapter on treatment. The report included a description of the current status of research on cultural or subgroup drinking practices and on the prevalence and form of problem drinking among subgroup members.
|
From page 347... ...
attempted to offer a comprehensive definition of special populations as groups that have common social, psychological, or legal characteristics and that have encountered barriers in obtaining appropriate treatment. He reviewed the status of specialized treatment programming for a number of groups: drinking drivers, incarcerated alcoholics, migrant farm workers, military personnel and other occupational groups, public inebriates and skid row alcoholics, the physically impaired, and those experiencing problems with both alcohol and other drugs.
|
From page 348... ...
The most important common characteristic of the groups is that they all face barriers to treatment access that the report states are being dealt with in program design: "With the growing recognition that utilization rates may be improved by removing barriers to access, greater attention is now being given to special population groups in the design of treatment programs" (USDHHS, 1983:108~. A new emphasis found in this report is the need to evaluate these programs once they have been implemented: As these programs become available, research will need to move from program descriptions to actual evaluation studies in which programs designed for special population groups are compared with more traditional approaches" (p.
|
From page 349... ...
Specific subgroups identified within this special population are the mobility impaired, hearing impaired, vision impaired, mentally retarded, and developmentally disabled. Similarly, the American Indian special population is further broken down to identify Aleuts and Alaskan Natives as distinct subgroups; the existence of tribal variation on key variables relevant to the treatment process is also stressed.
|
From page 350... ...
In 1988, the new alcohol and drug abuse treatment resources block grant identified desirable services to nationally targeted populations; these groups were most often identified as the homeless, youth and adolescents, and intravenous drug abusers (ADAMHA, 1988~. Given the diversity of special population groups identified as needing culturally sensitive treatment in legislative and program development activity, it becomes necessary to ask: where then has the research and clinical emphases lain?
|
From page 351... ...
can help to identity both the trends and the current distribution of treatment programs available for special population groups. These were surveys of alcoholism treatment services provided by all known public and private alcoholism and drug abuse facilities and units in the United States (NIAAA, 1983; Reed and Sanchez, 1986; NIDAINIAAA 1989)
|
From page 352... ...
Reed and Sanchez, 1986:2~. An examination of these two sources-the NCADI database and the NIAAA surveys of treatment units-shows that women and youth are the special population groups that have received the most attention since the early 1970s.
|
From page 353... ...
The committee has chosen to look at developments and issues for only a few of the commonly identified special population groups and the evolution and effectiveness of treatment programs designed for them as portrayed in the research and clinical literature. It is important to note that these groups are by no means inclusive of all special population groups; rather, they have been selected as representatives of special populations as a whole.
|
From page 354... ...
1986. Characteristics of Alcoholism Services in the United States-1984: Data from the September 1984 National Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Program Inventory.
|
From page 355... ...
1988. Executive summary: Culture, special populations, and alcoholism treatment.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.