Heather Grunig and Dr. Gordon Lindsay, Health Sciences
In 2005, the United States spent over 3 billion dollars on drug treatment and research. This is about 25 % of the total budget for substance abuse (Whitehouse, 2006, p.2). Much of this money was spent to further the understanding of addiction. The information researchers uncover is often difficult to understand by the general public. Addiction is becoming a huge problem in the United States and Utah is not exempt from this problem. In fact one out of twenty persons in Utah suffers from an addiction to alcohol or drugs (Baker, 2004, p.2). It is a very discouraging disease and it can be difficult to know where to find reliable information regarding addiction. This project addressed these problems.
In 2007, many resources were published regarding the science of addiction. My first task was to gather as much information regarding addiction as I could. I primarily focused on finding information that had been published in the last 5 years. I found many documents that had been published recently.
Once I gathered the information, I read through all of it and had to decide which documents were going to be most useful for this manual. I was able to find about 5 really good resources that I used for the bulk of my information. The other sources of information weren’t exactly what I needed or wanted.
I read and watched the resources I had decided to use. I did this to get a better idea of how to organize the information. I found that there are so many different aspects of drug addiction and the treatment of it. It became difficult not to write about all of them. I decided I would focus on the following topics: What is Addiction?, Changes in the Brain Due to Drug Use, Why Some People Get Addicted and Others Don’t, Stages of Addiction, Relapse—Stop and Go Systems, What is Treatment?, Available Treatment Programs, Elements of Treatment, Finding Treatment, and Additional Resources to go to for more information.
Once I had the different sections outlined, I began writing. This helped immensely in helping the project to go smoothly. It gave me guidance on what to focus on and what to write on. It also helped me to keep information in the correct section.
Although the writing went smoother once I divided up the sections, I still had some obstacles to overcome. One of the most important things I wanted to do in writing this manual was to make the information understandable to the general public. It was difficult at times to do this. I hope that those who read this will not be intimidated by some of the terms or concepts. In my proposal, I wanted to have focus groups after the manual was mostly written. I was unable to do this due to time restraints and difficulty in organizing a focus group.
I wanted to use this manual for two groups in Utah County, PANIC and Utah County Department of Substance Abuse. After an internship with the Madison Memorial Hospital Medical Library in Rexburg, Idaho, copies of the manual will also be distributed to people in Madison County through the medical librarian. This way I will reach more people than I originally planned on.
I have learned many things while working on and finishing my ORCA project. It has been a very valuable experience for me. My education would not have been as complete if I had not done this project.
Sources
- Baker, Merlin O. (2004). Understanding Alcohol and Drug Addiction: An LDS Perspective. Springville,
UT: Cedar Fort. - Whitehouse Drug Policy. (2006). Drug Control Funding Tables. Retrieved October 21, 2006 from
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/07budget/partii_funding_tables.pdf.