Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap between Science and Practice

0.6

1.4

5.7

10.6

12.1

25.3

44.3

Employers

Schools

Health Care Providers

Addiction Treatment Providers

Community Sources

Individuals

Criminal Justice System

* Excluding nicotine.

Source: CASA Columbia analysis of The Treatment Episode

Data Set (TEDS), 2009.

P E R C E N T

Figure 1.C

Sources of Referral to Publicly-Funded

Addiction* Treatment

77.2 73.2 71.2

10.9

Hypertension¹ Diabetes² Major

Depression³

Addiction³

(excluding

Nicotine*)

P E R C E N T

Figure 1.B

Individuals with Select Medical Conditions

Who Receive Treatment

(^1) Ages 18 and older; Ostchega, Y., Yoon, S.S., Hughes, J. & Louis, T.
(2008).
(^2) All ages; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011).
(^3) Ages 12 and older; CASA Columbia analysis of The National Survey
on Drug Use and Health(NSDUH), 2010

• Due to data limitations.

Most Referrals to Publicly Funded

Treatment Come from the Criminal Justice

System

CASA Columbia’s national survey conducted
for this study found that 46.8 percent of
respondents would turn to a health professional--
such as their physician (27.8 percent), a health
professional other than their primary care
physician (19.7 percent) or a mental health
professional (9.2 percent)*--if someone close to
them needed help for addiction.^63 However,
only 5.7 percent of referrals to publicly funded
treatment came from a health care provider. In
contrast, a full 44.3 percent of the referrals to
treatment were from the criminal justice
system,^64 highlighting the fact that this disease
typically is addressed only at the point at which
it results in profound social consequences.

One-quarter (25.3 percent) of referrals came
from individuals, including concerned family
members, friends and the self-referred; 12.1
percent were referred by community sources
such as social welfare organizations, religious
organizations and mutual support programs; and
10.6 percent were referred by addiction
treatment providers for additional treatment.
Very few treatment referrals came from schools
(1.4 percent) or from employers (0.6 percent).^65
(Figure 1.C)

• Some respondents chose more than one response, so

the 46.8 percent reflects those who chose either one
of these health professionals.