Substance abuse treatment readiness- The importance of a pre-treatment intervention.
Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. E10359)
Pizzi AM Lawndale Christian Health Center, Chicago, United States
Led by Prochaska and DiClemente's Transtheoretical Stages of Change model, independent researchers as well as governmental bodies including NIDA have recently identied treatment readiness as one of the grestest predictors of successful substance absue treatment outcomes. Especially working with PHAs, whose lives are confounded by medical, social, and economic barriers, we must question how we can best encourage treatment readiness. In Chicago, one agency has taken the research seriously and developed the Substance Abuse Treatment Readiness (SATR) program specifically targeting HIV-positive clients. As a pre-treatment intervention, SATR strives to attract positive individuals, improve their quality of life, and yield individuals prepared to succeed in treatment and achieve drug-free lives. Through the SATR's six-month program addressing topics including addiction, depression, abuse, family, HIV prevention, and relapse prevention, PHAs achieve treatment readiness at their own pace. This client-centered, client-directed program offers a unique program design on the cutting edge of new and innovative substance abuse treatment research. Recently restructured, January 2004 will see the first group of PHAs entering into the new and improved SATR program. Evaluation will be a top priority and we are eager to share the successes, failures, and lessons learned with those attending this presentation. What we know about treatment readiness and motivation research makes us confident that such a pre-treatment program will greatly benefit our PHAs. Certainly, the SATR program is not the only way to build treatment readiness. Yet, by using the SATR curriculum as a guide, we can gain skills and knowledge necessary to encourage treatment readiness in PHAs. It is our hope that this brief presentation of our experiences will spur on other pre-treatment initiatives worldwide, thus making successful treatment outcomes and prevention for positives more plausible.
Keywords: AEGIS, Substance-Related Disorders, Behavior, Addictive, Motivation, Treatment Outcome, Psychotherapy, Group, Psychotherapy, Brief, Drive, Chicago, Humans, therapy, prevention & control
