Background: In 1997, San Francisco began increasing funding to Community Substance Abuse Services with the aim of making alcohol and drug treatment available “On Demand.” Objective: To determine the impact of Treatment on Demand on social and health outcomes among injection drug users. Methods: Beginning in April 1998, the Urban Health Study began following a cohort of out-of-treatment, long term injection drug users recruited from street setting in four San Francisco neighborhoods (n=607). Follow-up data have been collected on social and health outcomes of this sample. Variables of interest include employment, income, homelessness, drug use, criminal activity, incarceration, hospitalization, and injury, among others. Outcomes will be compared for IDUs who entered drug treatment versus those who did not between April 1998 and June 1999. Preliminary Results: The socio-demographic characteristics of the sample are as follows: 47% African American, 37% White, 9% Hispanic, and 7 other; 29% were female. 52% of the sample used heroin most frequently, followed by crack (22%), speedball (10%), marijuana (7.2%), and speed (5.4%). By June 1999, 60.3% (366/607) IDUs had entered drug treatment at least once in the study period. Discussion: An important measure of the impact of increasing drug treatment availability is its impact on long-term, chronic drug users. This presentation will provide data on the social and health impacts in the two years of the Treatment on Demand initiative.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the Impact of Treatment on Demand on the social and health status of active injection drug users. 2. Discuss the health and social outcomes among injection drug users who enter treatment and those who do not enter treatment
Keywords: Drug Injectors, Outcome Measures
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
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.