Leadership in Substance Abuse Programs
The following review of the literature is related to the topic of leadership in substance abuse programs. An introduction to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs is followed by a discussion of substance abuse programs, the structure of substance abuse programs, the effectiveness of substance abuse programs, leadership, leadership and substance abuse programs, and conclusions.
Mental health has become a global concern. The World Health Organization is involved in a campaign to raise awareness about barriers to mental health and solutions to deal with mental and substance abuse disorders (Satcher, 2001). The prevalence of mental health and substance abuse disorders is around 20% for each age group to include children/adolescents, adults, and elders (Harwood, Mark, McKusick, & Coffey, 2003). Substance abuse and dependence is linked to age with prevalence highest in young adults and a decline in the numbers of elder substance abusers. A 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse discovered that some individuals begin drinking as preteens; 2.4% of 12-year-olds were found to consume some alcohol in a month and 3% used illicit drug in the past month and these figures were 30% for 16-17-year-olds regarding alcohol use and 20% for 18-20-year-olds regarding illicit drug use. In the year 2000 it was estimated that 4.1 million individuals required treatment for illicit drug abuse and 10 million required treatment for alcohol use disorders. The current study examined 1997 national expenditures on mental health and substance abuse treatment. Findings showed that $82.4 billion was spent and of this 13% went to children, 72% went to adults, and 15% went to older adults. This expense was 9% of the total health care on children, 11% for adults, and 3% for the elderly. The study also found that 85% of the spending for the young was for specialty mental health and substance abuse pr...