Dane County and figures at the University of Wisconsin are striving to successfully treat drug and alcohol addiction in Madison with a new anti-abuse programs from both institutions.
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said he is proposing to allocate funds from the county’s 2013 budget toward a successful treatment program that will provide an alternative for drunk drivers who want to face their addiction. He added the treatment has proven successful, but it has a chronic waiting list, an issue the county hopes to address by proposing to fund an additional slot for $80,000.
“It’s a strong investment,” Parisi said. “It costs money for these people to be in jail, so if we can get them into treatment, we can help them put their lives back together and save tax dollars.”
He added the county budget will also tackle long-term struggles with addiction. He said people dealing with alcoholism must seek treatment themselves and often do not go in before they are ready, so the slots will stay available for them for when they are ready to be treated.
The county also proposed to continue funding the Opiates Task Force, which was included in the 2012 county budget, to combat an ongoing opiate and heroin addiction problem in Dane County. Parisi said it is a comprehensive program that brings together people from across the community, including healthcare providers and pharmacists, who have discovered prescription painkillers are a gateway drug to heroin.
UW Professor of Family Medicine Richard Brown said in Wisconsin, funding for alcohol and drug treatment has been low for a long time and does not provide enough treatment programs. He added several current programs do not have the funds to invest in the latest technological advances in combating drug addiction.
In addition to Dane County’s efforts to help those struggling with addiction, UW scholars are in the process of testing mobile applications aimed at preventing substance abuse relapses, according to a UW statement. A $3.5 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse has furthered the research, the statement said.
Dhavan Shah, UW journalism professor and scientific director of the grant, said the grant was awarded in August 2012, and the app is set to go live around August 2013. The initiative will undergo three different trials before being released more broadly, potentially through health systems like UW Health.
Both a smartphone and the app will be provided to people involved in the study’s clinical settings free of charge, Shah said.
According to Shah, part of the app includes a cognitive behavioral therapy system to help people rehearse and plan their behavior so they can be more prepared when put in a difficult setting.
The app also comprises a system where people are connected through a social network and can provide each other with social support, share issues they are facing and learn coping strategies.
“My guess is this kind of technology can be effective, but it will not replace good one-on-one personal interactions with treatment professionals,” Brown said. “But a personal counselor isn’t going to be available 24/7, and perhaps your technology will be.”
The app has a geography-tracking feature that allows someone to make a video of themselves explaining why they are trying to avoid drinking or using drugs that plays when they are in places where they would have typically engaged in this behavior, Shah said.
Shah said substance abuse is a problem throughout the United States, including Wisconsin.
“We won’t only be testing this in Wisconsin, but even on UW campus, it’s a big problem,” Shah said. “There are students who have certainly had trouble with alcohol.”
Brown said Wisconsin tends to lead the nation in many measures of risky or problem drinking, and approximately five percent of our adult population is addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Parisi said the county board must approve the 2013 budget at its meeting in November and if approved, it will go into effect January 2013.
