How well does GCASA treat co-occurring disorders?

On Tuesday, April 27,2010, GCASA staff were interviewed by staff from the New York Health Center For Excellence In Integrated Care at the request of Ellery Reaves, the Director of Community Services For Genesee County to determine the degree to which GCASA does a good job in providing services to people who suffer from both substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. Combined disorders are called COD, Co-Occurring Disorders, or sometimes MICA, Mentally Ill Chemical Abuser.

Overall, GCASA does very well addressing co-occurring disorders as compared to other substance abuse agencies. The report states the GCASA performs above the state average.

Here is a snippet from the report: (click on image to enlarge for easier reading)



If anyone would like to see the whole report send me an email request at dmarkham@gcasa.org.

NIDA issues new report on Co-Occurence Of Drug Abuse and Other Mental Disorders

NIDA (National Institute On Drug Abuse) has issued a new report which discusses the Co-Occurrence of Drug Abuse and Other Mental Disorders.

You can read about it and access it by clicking here.

Quarterly recovery management check-ups help substance abusing patients with co-occurring psychiatric disorders

Quarterly Recovery Management Checkups seem to help patients who have co-occuring disorders of substance abuse and psychiatric stay on track according to an article in Volume 22, Number 6 issue of NIDA Notes. Here is what it says in part:

Recovery management checkups (RMC) aim to identify and alleviate client problems before they derail recovery and to facilitate rapid readmission to treatment when recovery falters. Quarterly appointments form the core of RMC.

New York State Office Of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse is supposedly looking at chronic care models for substance abusers. Current regulations make chronic care difficult to provide. It is interesting that chronic care seems to help substance abusing patients who also have psychiatric disorders.

What kind of programs are there that treat people with co-occuring disorders?

SAMHSA catagozies behavioral health programs in one of three categories: Addiction or mental health only, Dual Diagnosis capable (DCC) and Dual Diagnosis Enhanced (DDE).
GCASA's MICA programs are DDC, Dual Diagnosis capable.
Here is the definition from SAMHSA's Overview Paper I entitled "Definitions and Terms Relating To Co-Occuring Disorders". You can access the paper by clicking here.
Addiction- or mental–health-only services refers to programs that “either by choice or for lack of resources [staff or financial], cannot accommodate patients” who have co-occurring disorders that require “ongoing treatment, however stable the illness and however well-functioning the patient” (ASAM, 2001, p. 10).
Dual diagnosis capable (DDC) programs are those that “address co-occurring mental and substance-related disorders in their policies and procedures, assessment, treatment planning, program content and discharge planning” (ASAM, 2001, p. 362). Even where such programs are geared primarily toward treating substance use or mental health disorders, program staff are “able to address the interaction between mental and substance-related disorders and their effect on the patient’s readiness to change—as well as relapse and recovery environment issues—through individual and group program content” (ASAM, 2001, p. 362).
Dual diagnosis enhanced (DDE) programs have a higher level of integration of substance abuse and mental health treatment services. These programs are able to provide unified substance abuse and mental health treatment to clients who are, compared to those treatable in DDC programs, “more symptomatic and/ or functionally impaired as a result of their co-occurring mental disorder” (ASAM, 2001, p. 10). Enhanced-level services “place their primary focus on the integration of services for mental and substance-related disorders in their staffing, services and program content” (ASAM, 2001, p. 362). The Integrated Dual Disorders Toolkit describes a particular type of dual diagnosis enhanced program for adults with SMI (CMHS, 2003).
These program types can be established at any level of care. Given the high prevalence of COD within all behav¬ioral service settings, it is reasonable to expect programs to move toward dual diagnosis capable. While standards for DDC and DDE program licensure or certification have not been established at the national level, States are be¬ginning to develop some core standards. For more information about GCASA's Behavioral Health Programs which serve patients with co-occuring disorders, contact John Bennett, GCASA's Director Of Treatment, at 585-815-1849.
This is article #2 in a series on Co-Occuring Disorders.