Integrating Recovery-Oriented Practices for Individuals with Co-Occurring Disorders: With Tobacco & Schizophrenia Case Example

This webinar discusses motivation-based, recovery-oriented treatment plans for co-occurring disorders, including community resources. It describes how to integrate recovery practices such as dual recovery therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, and Open Dialogue into mental health and addiction treatment settings

Preparing the Open Dialogue Approach for Implementation in the United States [English and Spanish versions]

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under Additional Files below. Open Dialogue is a recovery-oriented psychosocial approach that has been found to be effective with persons in acute psychiatric crisis. Drs. Douglas Ziedonis and Mary Olson are leading a multi-disciplinary team at the University of Massachusetts Medical School / UMass Memorial Health Care to develop implementation tools (manuals, fidelity scales, etc.) that are needed to implement and evaluate the Open Dialogue approach in the United States

Barriers and solutions to addressing tobacco dependence in addiction treatment programs.

Despite the high prevalence of tobacco use among people with substance use disorders, tobacco dependence is often overlooked in addiction treatment programs. Several studies and a meta-analytic review have concluded that patients who receive tobacco dependence treatment during addiction treatment have better overall substance abuse treatment outcomes compared with those who do not. Barriers that contribute to the lack of attention given to this important problem include staff attitudes about and use of tobacco, lack of adequate staff training to address tobacco use, unfounded fears among treatment staff and administration regarding tobacco policies, and limited tobacco dependence treatment resources. Specific clinical-, program-, and system-level changes are recommended to fully address the problem of tobacco use among alcohol and other drug abuse patients

Addressing Tobacco through Organizational Change (ATTOC)

Describes the Addressing Tobacco through Organizational Change (ATTOC) intervention that provides services and ongoing support for agencies and organizations that are interested in learning how to initiate, improve, and or provide treatment for tobacco addiction; reduce tobacco addiction amongst employees; restrict or eliminate tobacco use on campus; and change the work environment to promote health and wellness. Originally published as: Research in the Works, Issue 1, 2011

Implementing Wellness into Mental Health and Addiction Recovery: The Addressing Wellness Through Organizational Change (AWTOC) Approach [English and Spanish versions]

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under Additional Files below. There are many opportunities for clinicians and leaders in mental health and addiction treatment programs to champion more discussion about wellness and integrate evidence-based treatments that can decrease patient morbidity and mortality. However, many clinicians and staff may not feel trained and prepared to help individuals adequately address wellness goals, to integrate wellness into their routine clinical practice, or to make appropriate referrals to community resources. To address this service and training gap, the UMass Department of Psychiatry developed the Addressing Wellness Through Organization Change (AWTOC) approach, based upon the Addressing Problems Through Organizational Change (APTOC) model developed by Douglas Ziedonis, M.D., M.P.H. which has been used previously to address tobacco cessation (Ziedonis et al., 2007)

ADAPTING OPEN DIALOGUE FOR EARLY-ONSET PSYCHOSIS IN LATVIA : BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS

Open Dialogue (OD) is the Finnish crisis intervention approach based on an open dialogue involving various professionals and a trusted person of the patient. This publication has demonstrated both clinical and economic benefits from the implementation of the principles of OD. The implementation of this approach was started in Latvia in cooperation with Dr. D. Ziedonis from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School (today working at University of California San Diego), by translating into Latvian “The Key Elements of Dialogic Practice in Open Dialogue” and carrying out expert consensus panel discussions on the barriers and facilitators of the approach. The obstacles are linked with the lack of education in family therapy, lack of resources, possible problems of cooperation among professionals, and the existing standard practice where there are no active home visits in crisis situations. At the same time, positive elements that are close to Latvian psychiatry can be observed in the OD approach, for instance, the importance of a clinical conversation and listening to the points of views of family members encourage psychiatrists in Latvia to use this approach. The setting of OD could be communitybased mental health centres as well as inpatient psychiatric departments dealing with acutely psychotic patients. OD can be a valuable addition and alternative in the case of new psychotic patients when treatment with medications is not efficient, and the patient is not favourably disposed to the use of medications, but nevertheless is seeking helppublishersversionPeer reviewe

Tobacco use disorder and treatment: new challenges and opportunities

Tobacco use remains a global problem, and options for consumers have increased with the development and marketing of e-cigarettes and other new nicotine and tobacco products, such as heat-not-burn tobacco and dissolvable tobacco. The increased access to these new products is juxtaposed with expanding public health and clinical intervention options, including mobile technologies and social media. The persistent high rate of tobacco-use disorders among those with psychiatric disorders has gathered increased global attention, including successful approaches to individual treatment and organizational-level interventions. Best outcomes occur when medications are integrated with behavioral therapies and community-based interventions. Addressing tobacco in mental health settings requires training and technical assistance to remove old cultural barriers that restricted interventions. There is still low-hanging fruit to be gained in educating on the proper use of nicotine replacement medications, how smoking cessation can change blood levels of specific medications and caffeine, and how to connect with quitlines and mobile technology options. Future innovations are likely to be related to pharmacogenomics and new technologies that are human-, home-, and community-facing

Gender-Specific Factors Associated with Readiness to Quit Smoking among Korean Americans

Introduction: The study examined gender differences in smoking and factors associated with three stages of readiness to quit smoking (precontemplation with no quit intention in the next 6 months, contemplation with a quit intention in the next 6 months but not in the next month, and preparation with a quit intention in the next month) among Korean Americans. Method: The study is a telephone survey with a randomly selected sample from an online telephone directory. Inclusion criteria for participation were (a) being of 18 and older, (b) identifying self as Korean, and (c) having smoked daily for at least six months prior to the interview. Results: The sample comprised 70 women and 168 men with a 63.8% response rate from eligible respondents. Women were 3 years older on average than were men when they started smoking regularly (t = 3.5, p = 0.001). Women were more likely to smoke inside the house than were men (X2 = 16.5, p \u3c 0.001). Compared to women in the preparation stage, women in precontemplation and contemplation stages had decreased odds of perceiving a family norm favoring quitting and increased odds of perceiving risks of quitting. Compared to men in the preparation stage, men in precontemplation and contemplation stages had decreased odds of perceiving a family norm favoring quitting and benefits of quitting. Previous quit attempts were also a significant factor for both women and men. Conclusions: Korean American female and male smokers are similar in the aspect that they are more likely to be ready to quit when they perceive a family norm favoring quitting. However, they differ in the relationship between perceived risks and benefits of quitting and readiness to quit. These findings underscore the importance of designing gender-tailored smoking cessation interventions in addition to having culture-specific interventions with the group