Drug Abuse Treatment Beyond Prison Walls

The period surrounding release from prison is a critical time for parolees, bearing the potential for a drug-free and crime-free life in the community but also high risks for recidivism and relapse to drugs. The authors describe two projects. The first illustrates the use of a formal Delphi process to elicit and combine the expertise of treatment providers, researchers, corrections personnel, and other stakeholders in a set of statewide guidelines for facilitating re-entry. The second project is a six-session intervention to enable women to protect themselves against acquiring or transmitting HIV in their intimate relationships

Utilization of Rural Substance Abuse Treatment: Methamphetamine vs. Other Stimulant Users

The purpose of this study is to use a modified version of the Anderson and Newman (1973) model of health service utilization to identify the significant correlates of substance abuse treatment recidivism, after profiling differences between methamphetamine and other stimulant users. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with recent stimulant users (past 30 days) in rural Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky (n=714). Bivariate analyses distinguished differences in substance use and retrospective service utilization patterns between methamphetamine and other stimulant users. Results from the negative binomial regression indicated that selected predisposing factors, historical health factors, potential enabling factors, and current illness factors significantly promoted the utilization of substance abuse treatment. Despite high levels of recent and lifetime self-reported substance use among these rural stimulant users, treatment services were underutilized. Future studies are needed to examine substance abuse treatment in order to increase treatment utilization in rural areas

Utilization of Rural Substance Abuse Treatment: Methamphetamine vs. Other Stimulant Users

The purpose of this study is to use a modified version of the Anderson and Newman (1973) model of health service utilization to identify the significant correlates of substance abuse treatment recidivism, after profiling differences between methamphetamine and other stimulant users. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with recent stimulant users (past 30 days) in rural Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky (n=714). Bivariate analyses distinguished differences in substance use and retrospective service utilization patterns between methamphetamine and other stimulant users. Results from the negative binomial regression indicated that selected predisposing factors, historical health factors, potential enabling factors, and current illness factors significantly promoted the utilization of substance abuse treatment. Despite high levels of recent and lifetime self-reported substance use among these rural stimulant users, treatment services were underutilized. Future studies are needed to examine substance abuse treatment in order to increase treatment utilization in rural areas

Rural Drug Users: Factors Associated with Substance Abuse Treatment Utilization

The purpose of this study is to use a modified version of Andersen’s (1968, 1995) Behavioral Model of Health Services Use to identify the correlates of the number of substance abuse treatment episodes received by rural drug users. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 711 drug users in rural areas of Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Descriptive analyses examine rural drug users’ substance use histories and retrospective substance abuse treatment service utilization patterns. A negative binomial regression model indicated that selected predisposing, historical health, and enabling factors were significantly associated with the utilization of substance abuse treatment among rural drug users. Despite high levels of recent and lifetime self-reported substance use among these rural drug users, treatment services were underutilized. Future studies are needed to examine the impact of the health care system and characteristics of the external environment associated with rural substance abuse treatment in order to increase utilization among drug users

Rural Drug Users: Factors Associated with Substance Abuse Treatment Utilization

The purpose of this study is to use a modified version of Andersen’s (1968, 1995) Behavioral Model of Health Services Use to identify the correlates of the number of substance abuse treatment episodes received by rural drug users. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 711 drug users in rural areas of Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Descriptive analyses examine rural drug users’ substance use histories and retrospective substance abuse treatment service utilization patterns. A negative binomial regression model indicated that selected predisposing, historical health, and enabling factors were significantly associated with the utilization of substance abuse treatment among rural drug users. Despite high levels of recent and lifetime self-reported substance use among these rural drug users, treatment services were underutilized. Future studies are needed to examine the impact of the health care system and characteristics of the external environment associated with rural substance abuse treatment in order to increase utilization among drug users

Criminality Among Rural Stimulant Users in the United States

Despite the increase in media attention on “meth cooking” in rural areas of the United States, little is known about rural stimulant use, particularly the criminality associated with stimulant use. Data were collected from community stimulant users in rural Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky (N=709). Findings from three logistic regression models indicate that younger stimulant users (x =32.55, SD = 10.35), those with more convictions, and those who used crack frequently were significantly more likely to have been arrested for committing a substance-related crime, a property crime, or another crime in the 6-months before entering the study. Implications include the need for longitudinal studies to further understand rural stimulant use as well as increasing community and corrections-based drug abuse prevention and treatment interventions for stimulant users who live in rural areas