Course Description
This course was developed using the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Substance Use Disorders (SUD) written by the Veterans Health Administration and the Department of Defense.
The intent of the guideline is to:
• Reduce current practice variation and provide facilities with a structured framework to help improve patient outcomes
• Provide evidence-based recommendations to assist providers and their patients in the decision-making process for patients with SUD
• Identify outcome measures to support the development of practice-based evidence that can ultimately be used to improve clinical guidelines.
The course incorporates many of the appendices which contain valuable information and which we feel the participant will find useful.
Course Objectives
1. Describe screening techniques, brief interventions, and specialty referral considerations for patients with substance use conditions.
2. Provide strategies to promote early engagement and retention of patients with substance abuse conditions.
3. Address issues pertaining to the use of FDA approved medication for the treatment of alcohol and opioid dependence, while evaluating pharmacological management of withdrawal symptoms.
4. Analyze approaches for improving outcomes such as cessation or reduction of substance use, reduction in relapse, and improved social functioning and quality of life for patients with substance use conditions.
5. Summarize various addiction-focused psychosocial interventions while identifying research supporting the effectiveness of these approaches.
