Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #100882

Jonathan Freedlander, BA, Experimental Psychology, Towson University, 8000 York Rd, Towson, MD 21252, 410-889-4109, jfreed1@umbc.edu

Substance abuse and addiction pose serious public health problems in the United States and across the world. The transtheoretical model of behavior change proposes to explain how people are able to successfully change unhealthy behaviors. There is a large amount of evidence to support the application of the transtheoretical model to modification of problem drinking and smoking; however, more research is needed on how it would apply to poly-substance use, and to intravenous use in particular. Intravenous drug use is typically associated with significantly increased risk compared with other methods of administration, and can be more challenging to treat. In order to address the increased risks associated with injection drug use (IDU), most notably HIV and hepatitis transmission, syringe exchange programs (SEPs) have been developed. In addition to providing sterile injection equipment to IDUs and other services, SEPs may act as a bridge to services for hard to reach populations.

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