• More deaths and disabilities result in the U.S. each year from substance abuse than from any other cause.  
•  Heavy drinking contributes to illness in each of the top three causes of death: heart disease, cancer and stroke. 
•  One quarter of all emergency room admissions, one-third of all suicides, and more than half of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol related. 
• More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking placing them at a four-to-ten times greater risk of becoming alcoholics than children with no alcoholic adults. 
  (www. ncadd.org/facts/America’s Number One Health Problem.html.)

Do you feel that you or someone in your family may have a problem with alcohol or drugs? 

Participate in a screening online or in the privacy of your physician’s office. 

Self-Test

The Simple Screening Instrument for Substance Abuse (SSI-SA), designed for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is available online at www.adcare.com /AdCare Hospital/Self-Test.  The following are 4 of the 16 questions on the self-test:

1. Have you tried to cut down or quit drinking alcohol or using other drugs?          
2. Has drinking or drug use caused problems between you and your family or friends?
3. Has drinking or other drug use caused problems at school or at work?              
4. Do you need to drink or use drugs more and more to get the effect you want?   

Physicians are screening for alcohol and drug misuse

Due to the simplicity and availability of assessment instruments coupled with incentives to screen patients during routine exams, general practitioners are taking a more active role in substance abuse intervention and treatment.  The chances have increased significantly that you will be asked about your family’s history of and alcoholism and your own alcohol and drug use during your next physical.  

Emergency Departments Screening for Alcohol and Drug Issues

In 2007, a handful of general hospitals across Massachusetts added health promotion advocates in their emergency departments.  The sole purpose of these advocates is to screen patients passing through Emergency Departments for substance misuse and to help them recognize and address their at-risk drinking or drug use. These grant-funded positions are part of Project SBIRT, Screening for Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment, which is modeled after Project ASSERT at Boston Medical Center.

“Project SBIRT is improving the lives of residents in the Gardner-Athol areas,” comments Barbara Nealon, Director of Social Services at Henry Heywood Hospital in Gardner, MA.  “As well as encouraging people to change their behaviors and seek treatment when appropriate, Project SBIRT is raising awareness of addiction within our communities and enhancing referral connections between health-care institutions and professionals and addiction treatment providers.” Collaborative outreach initiatives in the Athol-Gardner areas have included presentations such as “Alcohol and Medication Issues among Older Adults,” conducted by Dr. Paul Lemieux, AdCare Hospital psychologist, at Henry Heywood and Athol Memorial hospitals.

Treatment: the First Step to Recovery   

Treatment is the first step to recovery for individuals who are struggling with alcohol or other drugs. AdCare Hospital’s comprehensive continuum of treatment provides inpatient care and outpatient services at clinics conveniently located throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

AdCare Outpatient Services 

AdCare Outpatient Services offer a full range of individualized treatment that includes these core services:

• Comprehensive Assessment and Evaluation;
• Intensive Outpatient – three hours per session three-to-six-times per week;
• Individual, Group and Family Counseling;
• Relapse Prevention Group;
• Specialty Services.

AdCare Outpatient Services – Worcester also offers:

• Day Treatment Program, six-hour-per-day, seven day-per-week; 
• Outpatient Detoxification Program.