SEPTEMBER DIVERSITY MESSAGE

Please take a couple minutes to read this beautiful message written by Charley Galassini and the Diversity Committee

September is National Recovery Month and this year, the theme attached to the month is "Recovery is for Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community."

But is that really happening in the world we live in? Since this discussion is on diversity, let's delve into how diversity shows itself in substance abuse treatment. I think most of us would think there is a lack of true equality in medical treatment. In wanting to see if there was the same issue in substance abuse treatment I came across an interesting article. "Not Equal: Racial Disparities in Addiction/Substance Abuse Treatment." Some of the highlights that show the disparity in all receiving treatment for addiction equally in the United States.

The article highlights that all groups: Black, Hispanic, Latinx, Native Americans, and Asian Americans do not have the same access to treatment as White Americans, and if we look closer White women do not have the same access to treatment as White males.

Another point that the article highlights is that, both the social and economic contributions to the disparity in access to not only treatment, but quality treatment. It mentions a few items that support this notion such as income, availability of treatment programs, health insurance, and social connections. I think we all would believe that low income would contribute to a lack of access to quality treatment. In addition, we have heard through the media that the Black and Brown communities are more likely to be jailed versus given the option to go to treatment. I would highly recommend reading this article, which is referenced below, as well as other helpful resources. Part of the ongoing focus of the Diversity Committee is to educate NIEAPA members. Therefore, we do the monthly Diversity message, we have begun Diversity conversations, and every other year, we have a speaker at our October Chapter Meeting that focuses on a diversity topic.

Article Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff

This page does not provide medical advice. 

Additional Article resources:

• American Journal of Public Health — Black Lives Matter: A Commentary on Racism and Public Health
  https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302706
• Health Affairs — Blacks and Hispanics Are Less Likely Than Whites To Complete Addiction Treatment, Largely Due To Socioeconomic Factors
  https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0983
• UC Berkeley: Othering & Belonging Institute — Toward the Abolition of Biological Race in Medicine
  https://belonging.berkeley.edu/race-medicine/section-1
• NCBI Bookshelf — The State of Health Disparities in the United States - Communities in Action
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425844/
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) — National Survey on Drug Use and Health
  https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect/nsduh-national-survey-drug-use-and-health
• The Sentencing Project — Report to the UN on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System
  https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/
• Other Substance Abuse Resources SAMHSA's National Helpline
  1-800-662-HELP
  TTY: 1-800-487-4889
  Substance Use Treatment Locator
  findtreatment.gov
• Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator/strong>
  findtreatment.samhsa.gov
• National Recovery Month (naadac.org)