"Health & Medical News"

From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

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From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Rates of post-storm addiction and mental-health problems among Hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors can be directly correlated to how long they were displaced from their homes, according to new research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The study found that while most survivors displayed great resiliency after the storms, the rate of addiction and mental-health programs was much higher among those who had been forced from their homes for two weeks or more.

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By Bob Curley

With federal research showing that its anti-drug media campaign isn’t working with kids, and Congress calling for major cuts in the program, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has unveiled a more modest effort that focuses on an emerging threat — prescription-drug abuse — and appeals to parents rather than youth.

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Visiting a faith-based addiction treatment program in Baltimore, President George Bush referenced his own past drinking problems in telling program participants, “I understand addiction, and I understand how a changed heart can help you deal with addiction.”

The Associated Press reported Jan. 29 that Bush visited Baltimore’s Jericho Program, a project of Episcopal Family Services of Maryland, and spoke for the second time in as many months about his personal struggle with addiction.

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A hardscrabble region where employment is often limited to working the mines or working in prisons, Appalachia also has become home to some of the nation’s worst addiction problems, the Washington Post reported Jan. 13.

OxyContin first appeared as a drug of abuse in the region almost a decade ago, but experts say prescription-drug abuse is worse now than ever. In western Virginia, for example, 248 people died of overdoses in 2006, a 270-percent increase from a decade earlier.

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An ad campaign targeting 12- to 17-year-olds in Idaho and warning about the dangers of methamphetamine use was launched this week, The Twin Falls Times-News reported Jan. 7.

The ads from the Idaho Meth Project, which closely mirrors a similar campaign in Montana, began appearing on local TV. The Idaho group is spending $2.7 million to support the campaign, with support from state government as well as private donors.

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By Bob Curley

An upcoming HBO series on addiction is being viewed as a unique opportunity to educate the public about a disease that affects more than 22 million Americans — and many more family members — but is widely misunderstood.? 

The 14-part HBO documentary series is the linchpin of the “Addiction” project, but it’s far from the only component. A collaboration between HBO, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the campaign also includes a companion book, a comprehensive addiction information website at HBO, and a national community-outreach program coordinated by Join Together, Faces and Voices of Recovery, and Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). A four-DVD version of the documentaries will be sold for a minimal price at retail outlets and online.

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If all currently illicit drugs were legalized only a relative handful of Americans would try drugs like cocaine or heroin, according to a Zogby poll sponsored by a drug-policy reform group.

A poll of about 1,000 likely voters ages 18 or older found that only 0.6 percent replied “yes” when asked, “If hard drugs such as heroin or cocaine were legalized, would you be likely to use them?” Ninety-nine percent answered “no,” and 0.4 percent said they were not sure.

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An antibiotic called D-cycloserine may have some application as an anti-craving medication for addiction treatment, according to researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Mice treated with the antibiotic were less likely to remain in an environment where they had come to expect a dose of cocaine, when compared to mice that received a placebo.

Popularity: unranked [?]