Poverty A Barrier To Drug Abuse Treatment

Poole also called for better integration of drug, tobacco and alcohol treatment programs for women who have also been sexually abused, live in violent relationships or are suffering with mental illness. "We need to work (on it) so that it's not this fragmented thing (that says) 'Well, you can only get this here and you have to go over there for that,'" she said. "How can we knit our response together much better?" Many delegates attending the conference work in substance abuse treatment, prevention or harm reduction programs across Canada. As many as 80 per cent of women entering treatment programs also have histories of being abused or assaulted, and many use drugs or alcohol to try to cope, delegates were told. ... Services aren't responding quickly enough to change the treatments. Women who smoke or drink can get more serious diseases and have poorer outcomes than men of the same age, Greaves said. "That means we actually do have the need for different clinical treatment for women," she said. Women tend to suffer more early childhood sexual abuse and violence than men and that also has to be integrated into treatment programs, Greaves added. Women with addictions may not seek help because they're worried about losing custody of their children, she said. Women who are pregnant and addicted are vilified by society, Greaves said, and that needs to change. "Even if there are so-called treatment programs available for them, or information, they don't go to them. They don't go to them because they're afraid, ashamed and they feel guilty." "That's always our base illustration to see how far we've come and we haven't come very far in that regard," she said. Nancy Bradley, executive director of the Jean Tweed Centre in Toronto, said there have only been substance abuse programs specifically for women in the last 20 years. The trauma that women suffered through sexual or physical abuse wasn't understood or factored into the way they were treated for addictions, she added. "We now understand how trauma interplays with the issues of substance use for women," Bradley said. "We know that these women are often mothers and children are often involved. So we know that we need to help them learn how to parent better and provide specific services for pregnant and parenting young children," she said. The Jean Tweed Centre, which has 18 residential treatment beds, 52 staff and treats up to 1,800 women each year, has a child-care centre and offers classes that teach women how to be better parents. It also offers programs for problem gambling - another addiction that women face. Wendy Reynolds, spokeswoman for Action on Women's Addictions Research and Education, based in Kingston, Ont., talked about a program to help low-income women cut down on smoking. Women struggling with drug and alcohol addictions are often also addicted to tobacco, the conference heard. ... http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071125/drug_treatment_071125/20071125?hub=Health [Proofreader’s note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on November 26, 2007]

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