Chair’s Message

ATOD History of Change

Ann Mahony

A productive and energizing two-day ATOD mid-year meeting was held in April in Washington, D.C. The ATOD Section’s charge was twofold: to plan the ATOD Annual Meeting program, which was launched and developed ATOD Program Chair Dr. Lawrence Brown; and, to begin planning the ATOD Section’s 25th Anniversary celebration in Denver to which all Section members are encouraged to attend. Kudos to Lawrence for creating a well conceived meeting leading to a thoughtful and creative annual program during his first year as Program Chair.

Day two of the mid-year meeting was highlighted by Dr. Keith Humphreys’ presentation, “Policies that promote effective systems of care for substance use disorders.” Serving as a senior advisor for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. Humphreys presented the sea of change in the substance use disorders treatment system across system formulation, delivery, policy development and reimbursement. Dr. Humphreys noted the expansion of brief intervention and treatment models for substance use disorders, which are increasingly being adopted, adapted and replicated in a range of primary care settings, such as college student health, trauma centers, community health centers, primary care practices, and emergency departments. To achieve both an expansion of the quantity of care as well as better quality of care, five elements of care were presented to embed the specialty care for substance use disorders treatment within the health care system during the transition to health reform. The elements are: making specialty substance abuse care subject to the quality and process regulations of other medical interventions; bring staff and resources to meet these standards; allowing for choice to reflect the U.S. market-based insurance system; working toward better integration of substance care and other medical care from the outset; achieving a more unified approach to health technology; and, decreasing stigma associated with accessing care. The Veteran’s Administration model of care was cited as an example that integrates its substance use disorder care within its larger health care system. Initial expansion of this model is proposed via the President’s 2011 budget to include the Health Resources and Services Administration Community Health Centers and the Indian Health Service clinics. To obtain copies of Dr. Humphrey’s slides, you are welcome to e-mail me at: agmpublichealth@gmail.com.

The mid-year meeting group then moved to a lively discussion to begin planning the AOD/ATOD section’s 25^th anniversary which will be celebrated in Denver. Before the mid-year meeting, I had started to review APHA’s archives to learn how the Alcohol and Other Drug Special Interest Group, or AOD SPIG, made the transition to become a Section in 1985. Within a year, the AOD Section’s 11 session Annual Meeting program was presented at the APHA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. The momentum to include Tobacco in the AOD Section became more clear as addiction, behavioral health and public health science advanced, as well as progress in decreasing smoking rates and secondhand smoke exposure through new tobacco control policies such as smoking bans and tobacco taxes. In 1990, the AOD Section officially became the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs or ATOD Section. As we move to our 25^th Anniversary celebration, send me your recollections of the ATOD Section’s successes. In the next newsletter, my column will highlight the Section’s many forward thinking policy successes.