Alcohol Treatment Navigator aimed at individuals with alcohol use disorder and their loved ones
MONDAY, Oct. 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has released a new online resource to help people recognize and find high-quality care for alcohol use disorder.
The Alcohol Treatment Navigator was designed as a comprehensive yet easy-to-use tool to help individuals with alcohol use disorders and their loved ones navigate the often-complicated process of choosing treatment for alcohol problems.
The tool includes an overview of alcohol use disorder; a description of different kinds of professionally led treatment options; step-by-step instructions for searching several existing online directories of treatment providers, including information from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Behavioral Health Treatment Locator; 10 questions to ask a provider and five signs of quality to listen for; and a downloadable toolkit to help simplify and organize the search process.
“We developed this tool to help address the alcohol ‘treatment gap,'” NIAAA Director George F. Koob, Ph.D., said in a statement. “In any given year, less than 10 percent of individuals diagnosed with alcohol use disorder receive treatment, and many of them do not receive the type of care that best fits their needs. A big reason for that, we believe, is that people with alcohol use disorder often don’t know where to turn for help.”
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