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Chapter 2 "Women and Alcohol and Other Drugs: An
Overview" presents a summary of the current epidemiology of
substance abuse among women, and data and information
concerning factors related to substance abuse among women.
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Chapter 3 "Treatment of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse: An
Introduction" presents approaches to the treatment of substance
abuse.
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Chapter 4 "Outreach to and Identification of Women"
presents a discussion of barriers to engaging women in
treatment and outreach strategies to deal with those
barriers.
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Chapter 5 "Comprehensive Treatment for Women" presents
approaches to comprehensive care in each stage of the treatment
process (e.g., intake, treatment, discharge).
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Chapter 6 "Continuing Care and Follow Up" is a summary of
approaches to continuing care.
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Chapter 7 "Program Management Issues" presents an
overview of program management issues.
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Chapter 8 "Reflections" includes thoughts and reflections on the
issues raised in the manual.
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Unless otherwise stated, the discussion of treatment issues and
strategies relates to women in substance abuse treatment in general; that is, the
information applies across ethnic/racial groups and socioeconomic groups. Factors
specifically related to different populations of women (age groups, ethnic/racial
groups, and other populations) are addressed in chapters 2, 4, and 5. For example, in
chapter 2, comparative information is presented by age and/or race where
appropriate, but information regarding several populations is also summarized at the
end of the chapter. Because of the critical importance of the cultural competency of
staff in engaging and retaining women in treatment and the importance of the
factors of culture, gender, and class in designing and delivering effective substance
abuse treatment services, extensive discussions of issues unique to different
population groups are presented in chapters 4 and 5. Those who are knowledgeable
about the current epidemiology of substance abuse in women may wish to refer
directly to chapters that present specific strategies concerning one of the phases of
care (e.g., outreach, continuing care). Others may choose to read chapter 2
thoroughly before reading the other chapters or may wish to use chapter 2 as a
quick reference for epidemiologic information.
There is no large body of research on which to base the design and
implementation of strategies for women's substance abuse treatment, as chapter 2
will make clear, and many of the national data sets that might be useful do not have-
or do not present-information separately for men and women. Those who manage
treatment services for women or who are counselors in women's treatment
programs do describe their programs and conduct at least informal assessments in
the course of program management (e.g., completing required reports for funding or
sponsoring agencies) and fund raising (e.g., preparing proposals). However,
program managers often do not have the resources or the opportunity to conduct
systematic evaluations or assessments of their programs or to compare their
services with those of other treatment programs. Thus, program staff usually rely
on
experiential knowledge or the "oral tradition" in designing, developing, and
implementing substance abuse treatment services for women.
This manual is based on the knowledge of experts in the field of substance
abuse treatment for women as well as on published and unpublished research.
Both of these information sources contribute to the knowledge base of substance
abuse treatment. The compilation and presentation of the information in this
manual serves as a guide to develop and implement effective substance abuse
treatment services for women. This manual also serves as a guidepost for
research by helping to make evident the gaps in current knowledge. As this
process continues, it will provide relevant and current information to help those in
the field of substance abuse treatment implement effective substance abuse
treatment services for women.
Across all program components in the continuum of care for
women, the mandate of providers is to do the following:
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Engender
hope and empowerment in their clients,
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Ensure
safe, secure, and supportive environments,
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Establish
trusting relationships between women clients and staff,
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Provide
advocacy in accessing all services needed,
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Promote
self responsibility, self sufficiency, and
interdependence,
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Strive
for gender specific and culturally relevant client-driven services,
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Eliminate
labeling of women and their children in all
respects, and
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Build the effective linkages and networking required for model
women's programs.
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