A promising intervention for a daunting problem: comment on Silverman et al. (2001).
Six features of the report are commented on. First, the Therapeutic Workplace intervention described in the report represents a creative and promising new approach to drug abuse treatment. Second, to the author's knowledge, it represents the first intervention that has been shown in a randomized clinical trial to significantly reduce cocaine abuse among pregnant women. Third, the report and study are commendable for their scientific rigor. Fourth, the treatment approach is science-based, integrating concepts and principles from several behavioral science literatures. Fifth, the intervention offers a potentially practical way of extending incentive-based drug abuse treatments to community clinics. Sixth and last, the report has the potential to provoke serious thought and consideration of what more might be done to combat the daunting and related problems of chronic unemployment and drug abuse in our poorer communities.
Higgins
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Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington 05401-1419, USA. stephen.higgins@uvm.edu
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational / Q000523:psychology*; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*