Substance use disorder treatment for people with physical and cognitive disabilities
Because of a lack of substantial research on the particular needs of people with coexisting disabilities in treatment for substance use disorders, the Panel often relied on clinical experience to develop the recommendations provided here. In the summary of recommendations listed below, recommendatio...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Rockville, MD
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
1998, [1998]
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| Series: | Treatment improvement protocol (TIP) series
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| Collection: | National Center for Biotechnology Information - Collection details see MPG.ReNa |
| Summary: | Because of a lack of substantial research on the particular needs of people with coexisting disabilities in treatment for substance use disorders, the Panel often relied on clinical experience to develop the recommendations provided here. In the summary of recommendations listed below, recommendations that are supported by research literature or legislation (i.e., the ADA) are followed by a (1); clinically based recommendations are marked (2). Citations supporting the former are given in Chapters 1 through 5. (2) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Nearly one-sixth of all Americans have a disability that limits their activity; countless others have disabilities (mostly cognitive in nature) that go unrecognized and undiagnosed. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990 to ensure equal access to all community services and facilities, including substance use disorder treatment facilities both public and private, for all people regardless of any disability they might have. People who are blind, deaf, paraplegic, and who have arthritis, heart disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), mental illness, and substance use disorders are among those covered under this legislation. People with physical and cognitive disabilities are more likely to have a substance use disorder and less likely to get effective treatment for it than those without such a coexisting disability. Accommodating people with coexisting disabilities in treatment for substance use disorders entails such things as adjusting counseling schedules, providing sign language interpreters, suspending "no-medication" rules, and often, overcoming people's fears and ignorance. This TIP presents simple and straightforward guidelines on how to overcome barriers and provide effective treatment to people with coexisting disabilities. The topic of substance use disorder treatment for people with coexisting disabilities is a broad one. In creating this Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP), the Consensus Panel focused its attention on the needs of adults in treatment who had a coexisting physical or cognitive disability (including those disabilities also classified as "sensory" in nature). There are already many people in treatment who have a coexisting cognitive or physical disability. But, as many still go untreated, the number of people with coexisting disabilities entering treatment can only be expected to rise. Treatment programs have a legal and ethical responsibility to make treatment for these clients as effective as possible. The ADA states that both public and private facilities be equally accessible for all. The law requires the installation of ramps, elevators, proper lighting, and usable doorknobs, and the removal of other physical obstacles, but accessibility means more. Barriers to communications must be removed; discriminatory policies, practices, and procedures eliminated; and attitudes changed in order to not hold a person's disability against him. While people who have an affective disability (i.e., mental illness) are mentioned in the TIP, the reader is referred to TIP 9, Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Coexisting Mental Illness and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (CSAT, 1994), for more detailed information concerning the assessment and treatment of these clients. In order to avoid awkward construction and sexism, this TIP alternates between "he" and "she" for generic examples. Since substance use disorders are considered a disability under the ADA, when people in substance use disorder treatment are referred to in the TIP as having disabilities it is understood that they have "coexisting" disabilities. The Consensus Panel for this TIP drew upon its considerable experience in both the disability services and substance use disorder treatment fields. Panel members included providers as well as consumers of these services. |
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| Item Description: | "PHS CONTRACT NO. ADM 270-95-0013." |
| Physical Description: | 156 p |