Substance use management: a harm reduction-principled approach to assisting the relief of drug-related problems.
Disease (particularly HIV) has increased our motivation to reconsider how the current help system deals with drug-related problems. A more concrete focus on disease prevention as an additional goal has, for many, lead to a reevaluation of the goals of drug help work. Such a critical examination shows how much there is to improve within the system even in the absence of blood borne disease. Integrating the heart of harm reduction--respecting work on any positive change as a person defines it for his/herself--into treatment fashions a health sensitive alternative to the predominant practice of abstinence-only assistance for the relief of drug problems. This new approach is called substance use management (SUM), as it no longer requires abstinence but instead focuses on a range of options for improvements while still including abstinence among the possible self-selected outcomes. SUM is suggested as a framework for change within the treatment system that would maximize treatment's constructive impact, cost-effectiveness and maturation as a distinct discipline that can appropriately attract support and gain stature for making society healthier. This article describes a formalized system for applying some of the main principles of harm reduction within the treatment system. Viable options for a SUM treatment focus are suggested herein as well as a critical process, based on respect and collaboration, for use with these options.
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Chicago Recovery Alliance, Illinois, USA. cra@mcs.net
D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000517:prevention & control; D012931:Social Environment; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000379:methods*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*