Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice for a Systems Approach to Addiction Treatment Programs



Abstract

In addiction treatment programs, there is a gap exists between literature and practice, which is atypical to other medicine fields. This gap between literature and practice refers to a concern highlighted by several researchers, which directs to the formation of the “translating literature into practice.” This paper depicts the first endeavor of this gap, a summary of literature in relation to addiction treatment programs. The aim of the research is to allow practitioners in the field of medicine to determine present gap between practice and literature.

Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice for a Systems Approach to Addiction Treatment Programs

Introduction

Individuals with addiction are heterogeneous, along with broad disparity across the group as regards to the addiction substance use, and their resources and strengths. In order to cure, specific types of addiction substance use, such as alcohol, drugs and opiates, there are specialized therapies proposed by the researchers and practitioners.

In the present era of shrinking resources, it is essential than before that academia and practitioners offer the most cost and time effective treatment available to treat addictive patients. The drug addiction treatment programs, such as other practice disciplines, have long been typified by idiosyncratic and not consistent practices based on a person's folklore, certain styles of communicating, intuition and personal experiences. This gap between literature and practice that study has demonstrated to be effective and what is real practice followed by practitioners. Documents like the “National Treatment Plan” and “Bridging the gap between practice and research” by the Institute of Medicine report that demand for linking research to practice. It was estimated by a scientist that around 19 percent of clinical practice was depended on literature, and the rest on “tradition” or clinical experience, or opinions or “soft-science,” provided the state-of-the-art of drug abuse practice and research (Knudsen, Abraham & Roman, 2011). This paper proposes a number of concrete programs of addiction treatment based on literature and practice by offering direction and assistance on maintaining, identifying and executing practice.

Discussion

Literature Review

Several approaches of treatment are listed in the literature. Few treatment programs are specific, such as cognitive-behavioral treatment; however, rest of the treatment programs are more general in terms of scope, such as non-confrontational treatment. Most discussed treatment programs for drug addiction in the literature are age-specific services, pharmacotherapy, cognitive-behavioral treatment, and brief interventions (Capoccia, et al., 2007; Bloom & Van Reenen, 2007).

Age-specific treatment can be described as services of substance abuse, which are given to older patients, as well as altered to fulfill the special needs of masses; for example, to take status of health into consideration, to run groups at a slow speed. Available literature proposes that this treatment is preferred to the majority of the older population into more generic cure and treatment. A psychosocial treatment model directed to greater effectiveness of treatment in comparison to traditional group psychotherapy. Researchers have yielded many suggestions to hold present treatment programs to the ...