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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

Challenges to providing quality substance abuse treatment services for American Indian and Alaska native communities: perspectives of staff from 18 treatment centers

Authors: Rupinder Legha, Ashley Raleigh-Cohn, Alexandra Fickenscher, Douglas Novins

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Background

Substance abuse continues to exact a significant toll, despite promising advancements in treatment, and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities remain disproportionately impacted. Understanding the challenges to providing quality substance abuse treatment to AI/AN communities could ultimately result in more effective treatment interventions, but no multi-site studies have examined this important issue.

Methods

This qualitative study examined the challenges of providing substance abuse treatment services for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. We conducted key informant interviews and focus groups at 18 substance abuse treatment programs serving AI/AN communities. Seventy-six service participants (21 individuals in clinical administrative positions and 55 front-line clinicians) participated in the project. Interview transcripts were coded to identify key themes.

Results

We found that the challenges of bringing effective substance abuse treatment to AI/AN communities fell into three broad categories: challenges associated with providing clinical services, those associated with the infrastructure of treatment settings, and those associated with the greater service/treatment system. These sets of challenges interact to form a highly complex set of conditions for the delivery of these services.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that substance abuse treatment services for AI/AN communities require more integrated, individualized, comprehensive, and longer-term approaches to care. Our three categories of challenges provide a useful framework for eliciting challenges to providing quality substance abuse treatment in other substance abuse treatment settings.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Challenges to providing quality substance abuse treatment services for American Indian and Alaska native communities: perspectives of staff from 18 treatment centers
Authors
Rupinder Legha
Ashley Raleigh-Cohn
Alexandra Fickenscher
Douglas Novins
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-14-181

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