Final Conference Program - aatod

This workshop will preview and discuss the upcoming Methadone
Safety Videos produced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration. There are two short videos—one for clinicians
and one for patients. The workshop panel will lead a discussion
on engaging patients and clinicians with the videos. The panel will
also discuss how to promote and educate clinicians and patients on
best practices for Opioid Treatment Programs. The workshop also
provides information on how to engage patients in the recovery
process and how to educate patients on methadone safety.
Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA/CSAT).
B4 Risk Reduction for Illicit Benzodiazepine
Abuse within an OTP Population
Continental B
Dan Johnson, PhD, The Acadia Hospital, Bangor, ME
This presentation will address benzodiazepine abuse within opioid
replacement treatment from both a risk management and recoveryoriented
perspective. Risk reduction and therapeutic engagement
strategies, and medical interventions to reduce concomitant benzodiazepine
use among patients will be discussed. From July through
December 2009, benzodiazepine abuse at Acadia Hospital’s replacement
therapy programs was reduced by slightly over 30 percent.
Data from this effort related to patient replacement therapy dose,
toxicology results, psychiatric treatment needs, overall stability,
treatment drop rates and perceptions of care will be reviewed at six
and nine-month intervals.
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit approved.
B5 Spirituality and Recovery: Exploring the Value
of the Spiritual Alliance in Recovery
Continental C
Alan Lee Nolan, LCSW, Connecticut Counseling Centers, Inc,
Danbury, CT
With research highlighting the “therapeutic alliance” as a vital treatment
component positively impacting a patient’s motivation for
change, a patient’s relationship, or “recovery alliance” with a “higher
power” commands clinical attention. Examining evidence regarding
the potential value of spiritual dimensions of recovery, this workshop
explores cultivating a person-centered OTP through the utility of
integrating a patient’s spiritual orientation. The workshop proposes
a spiritually sensitive recovery archetype, and its effectual assimilation
with dominant secular treatment models. Partnerships with
community-based spiritual resources, along with ongoing staff
competency, quality improvement measures and the use of existing
data collection processes will be discussed.
6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Digital Access to Medication (D-ATM) Town Hall:
Using Technology in Opioid Treatment to Prepare
for Disasters and Promote Continuity of Care
Continental A
Arlene Stanton, PhD, SAMHSA/CSAT, Rockville, MD
Daksha Arora, PhD, Westat, Rockville, MD
SAMHSA’s D-ATM project (“Digital Access to Medication”) was
conceived as a technological approach to help ensure OTPs can
effectively and safely provide medication to patients who have been
displaced from opioid treatment programs (OTPs) where they are
normally enrolled. The need for D-ATM was highlighted during the
attacks of 9-11, but over time, D-ATM has evolved as a valuable tool
to support continuity of treatment even in the event of more routine
service discontinuities. Stakeholder input has been critical from Day
1 and a Steering Committee continues to provide valued input. At
this point, the system itself has been developed, ‘lessons learned’
from a limited pilot have been examined, processes have been
streamlined and attention has turned to expanding the system into
OTPs in targeted areas around the country. (More background can
be found at http://datm.samhsa.gov/.)
This Town Hall will begin with a brief overview and status report on
D-ATM. Representatives from “D-ATM OTPs” will describe their
experiences in implementing the system, including doing so in a
corporate environment. The Town Hall will also provide the opportunity
for open discussion of the kinds of disaster preparedness issues
that OTPs and their patients have encountered in real-life situations,
whether widespread disasters or more routine service disruptions.
For instance, how have programs dealt with reimbursement issues or
differences in dosing practices, when faced with unfamiliar patients
from other programs What planning is in place for physically
disabled patients, whether or not D-ATM is in place
It is hoped this Town Hall will provide one means to continue a
dialogue among members of the treatment community toward identifying
which issues still need attention and who can best address
them. Representatives of CSAT and other Federal and State agencies,
members of the D-ATM Steering Committee, and program
directors, patients and staff who have had experience in working
with D-ATM or in dealing with disaster first-hand, are especially
encouraged to attend.
Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA/CSAT).
Policy Makers Luncheon
Monday, October 25, 2010
Supported through a grant from Bendiner &
Schlesinger Inc.
October 23–27, 2010 | Hilton Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 15