posted on 2023-07-03, 22:25authored byJohn Toumbourou, Elizabeth Doery, Varcoe Shane
With respect to alcohol and other drug use problems, treatment refers to interventions for people who experience these problems, while prevention seeks to reduce the number of people that develop these problems. Although treatment and prevention efforts often coexist in a defined community, there has been limited consideration of how to integrate prevention and treatment programs within community service systems to reduce population levels of alcohol and other drug use problems. This report reviews evidence from treatment and prevention evaluations to argue for a system integration synthesising abstinence-based treatment and prevention programs, within the wider range of evidence-based models.
History
Pagination
1-15
Open access
Yes
ISBN-13
9780730002802
Language
English
Research statement
Background
This report reviews evidence from treatment and prevention evaluations to argue for a system integration synthesising abstinence-based treatment and prevention programs, within the wider range of evidence-based models.
Contribution
The report arises in response to a systematic review that concluded Alcoholics Anonymous has superior treatment effects and cost-effectiveness relative to alternative treatment approaches in supporting recovery from alcohol use problems. The personal-spiritual (supra-cultural) growth components of these interventions increasingly align with evidence from positive psychology, which reveals these practices to be fundamental to healthy human development.
Significance
The report suggests that recovery fellowship approaches may have specific advantages in families and communities with higher rates of adult alcohol and other drug use. These approaches are cost-effective for encouraging both adult and adolescent abstinence and personal-spiritual growth.
