 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Elspeth Slayter, MSW, MA, Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, MS 035, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, 617-628-8509, eslayter@brandeis.edu and Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, PhD, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, The Nathan and Toby Starr Center for Mental Retardation, MS 035, Waltham, MA 02454.
People with intellectual disability (ID) have experienced increasing levels of freedom and access to community life over the past forty years. This freedom has also included access to alcohol, illicit drugs and the potential for developing substance abuse (SA) disorders. Although the manner in which this population has handled access to alcohol and illicit drugs has been recognized, little research is available. This study provides the first large, detailed inquiry into the identification of SA among this population. Using a cross-sectional design, research questions related to the identification of SA were examined by analyzing administrative claims for 5,357 Medicaid beneficiaries with ID. Comparisons will be made to the populations with and without ID, as appropriate. Aiding policymakers in the fields of health and disability policy as well as in the clinical arena of SA treatment, policy implications relate to the provision of new information about how existing systems provide care to this population and how this may relate to the improvement of access to SA treatment as well as SA treatment processes for people with ID.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Substance Abuse, Disability
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.