National Panel of Treatment
Providers and National Online
Survey of Members of Professional
Associations Involved in
Addiction Care
CASA Columbia convened a small, national
panel of treatment providers. Panel members
were asked to provide their perspectives on
issues and barriers they faced in providing
quality services and their recommendations for
improvement in the treatment system.
Organizations that assisted in identifying panel
members included: NAADAC, the Association
for Addiction Professionals;* the State
Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS); the
National Council for Community Behavioral
Healthcare (National Council); the National
Association of Addiction Treatment Providers
(NAATP); and the American Society of
Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Panel members
are listed in Appendix F.
This panel also assisted CASA Columbia in
developing a brief, online national convenience
survey of members of professional associations
involved in addiction care to help understand
their views of addiction treatment including: the
relative importance of various components of
the treatment process, the goals of treatment, the
barriers to the implementation of high-quality
treatment and recommendations for improving
access to treatment and quality care. (See
Appendix F for the survey instrument and
response frequencies.)
Eleven professional associations agreed to share
the link to the survey either via a group e-mail, a
posting on their Web site or in an association
newsletter. The 11 associations were: The
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
(AAAP); the American Association for the
Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD); the
American Psychological Association (APA); the
American Society of Addiction Medicine
(ASAM); the Association for the Treatment of
- Formerly named the National Association for
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors
(NAADAC).
Tobacco Use and Dependence (ATTUD);
NAADAC, the Association for Addiction
Professionals; the National Association of
Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP); the
National Association of County Behavioral
Health and Developmental Disability Directors
(NACBHDD); the National Council for
Community Behavioral Healthcare (National
Council); the State Associations of Addiction
Services (SAAS); and Treatment Communities
of America (TCA).†The methodology, recruiting and screening
materials, consent protocol and survey
instrument were approved by CASA Columbia’s
IRB.Between May 2007 and May 2008, 1,142
members of the treatment provider associations
completed the survey. The survey was
anonymous.Online Survey of Individuals
Managing Their Addiction
CASA Columbia developed an online survey
using a convenience sample of individuals who
have been managing their addiction (i.e., “in
recovery”) to explore factors that have helped
them manage the disease and challenges they
have faced over the years in doing so. (See
Appendix G for specific survey questions and
response frequencies.)To qualify for participation, respondents had to
be age 18 or older.The following agencies and organizations agreed
either to send an e-mail blast with an embedded
survey link to their members or to include the
link in a newsletter or other material that would
reach those in the recovery groups: Hazelden,
Freedom Institute, Faces and Voices of
Recovery, Betty Ford Center, National Council
on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.
(NCADD), Treatment Communities of America
(TCA), Alcoholism and Substance Abuse† Formerly named Therapeutic Communities of
America (TCA).