Jack E. Henningfield, Patricia B. Santora, & Warren K. Bickel (Eds.). (2007). Addiction Treatment: Science and Policy for the Twenty-First Century. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Length: 248 pp.
ISBN 0801886694
For more information on this book: Click here
SEPT/OCT 2008
Volume 14 - No. 3
SRNT Newsletter
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008, Volume 14, Number 3
Book Review
In the United States, addiction to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs accounts for approximately one in five deaths. In addition, addiction exerts an enormous financial and emotional toll on the addicted individual and family members as they watch their loved one struggle with addiction. Given that drug addiction is one of the leading public health issues of our time, ensuring adequate and accessible treatment for those in need is an important topic. The book, Addiction treatment: Science and policy for the twenty-first century edited by Jack Henningfield, Patricia Santora and Warren Bickel, provides an excellent overview of the current state of addiction treatment in the United States. This book provides an array of essays from outstanding leaders in the field to foster thought and discussion about addiction treatment. The goal of the book is to help revolutionize and energize debate to shape what treatment for drug addiction should look like in the future.
The book consists of three sections. The first section addresses underlying theoretical perspectives for treating addiction to alcohol, tobacco, illicit opiods and stimulants and prescription drugs, treatment models for addiction, and highlights areas of emerging science. There are nine chapters within this section. The chapters are short and easy to read. One of the strengths of this section is the presentation of new and innovative treatment approaches to addiction. Interesting treatment approaches include the use of computer-based interactive technology, stepped care models to accommodate individual differences, development of chronic disease management models of treatment, and integrating various paradigms (such as an action paradigm complemented by a stage based paradigm) to increase the impact of treatment.
Section two addresses addiction treatment with special populations such as pregnant women, adolescents, medically ill populations, and incarcerated drug users. All of these chapters provide compelling data that highlight the need for treatment and the challenges associated with ensuring adequate access. This section of the book underscores the complexity of addiction treatment since addiction affects individuals with diverse developmental, psychological, social, and medical needs. A particularly poignant chapter presents a personal story of addiction, recovery and art. Colored art work is included as part of this section and provides an artist's glimpse into the personal experiences of addiction and recovery. The editors provide a complementary chapter that explains that a scientific perspective alone isn't adequate to portray an understanding of addiction and that addiction art helps bridge the gap between science and the human experience. The hope is that readers will feel compassion and understand that we need to do more to prevent and treat addiction.
The final section provides an analysis of health care, social and policy issues. Debate on topics that address basic conceptions about the nature of drug addiction, to issues of legislation for public health policies, to concerns about patient confidentiality is presented. Controversial topics such as whether addiction should be considered a disease or behavior, whether addiction should be handled as a criminal offense or treated as a public health problem and whether stigmatizing addiction is helpful or not are addressed by experts in the field. Some of the viewpoints expressed in this chapter oppose other contributor viewpoints. The divergence of attitudes and opinions about addiction and addiction treatment clearly show that there are no simple or easy solutions to ensuring adequate treatment.
The editors do an excellent job of putting together a collection of essays from leading experts in the field of addiction. The provocative essays and the way that the chapters are organized creates a book that is easy to read and will certainly stimulate thought and further discussion about what is possible for addiction treatment in the twenty-first century. This book provide a comprehensive approach to understanding addiction as a treatable illness and suggests avenues for treatment approaches that have the potential to change the current face of addiction treatment in the United States. This book is an outstanding resource and is appropriate for students, health care professionals, researchers, policy makers, and laypersons interested in addiction science and health care policy.