Videos de Sexo > Sober living > Helping Women Suffering from Drug Addiction: Needs, Barriers, and Challenges

The sensitivity of staff when working with women with drug use problems 40, the education of medical services on the needs of female substance users 29, and therapeutic work with a patient with a possible history of sexual assault and at risk of pregnancy and past or present sexually transmitted diseases 37 seem particularly valuable. The research in this area is relatively sparse, but disparities in AUD prevalence, the negative consequences of drinking, and alcohol-related health, morbidity, and mortality outcomes are apparent. This review also highlights the importance of a life-course perspective for understanding disparities in alcohol problems. By examining what happens within and between social groups across the life span, the widening of social group differences in cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage, health, and alcohol-related problems—especially after young adulthood—becomes more noticeable.

Substance abuse treatment entry, retention, and outcome in women: a review of the literature

Between 1995 and 2002, the average annual growth rate of incarcerated females was 5.4 percent, compared with 3.6 percent for males (Harrison and Karberg 2003). Among the prison population, from 1990 to mid-2001, the number of female inmates jumped 114 percent; the male population grew by 80 percent in the same period (Beck et al. 2002). Nearly half of those in State prisons and other correctional facilities have never been married (Greenfeld and Snell 1999). Clinicians and other staff members may need to consider issues such as distance (e.g., how many miles from home to clinic), time and season (e.g., the demands of planting and harvesting, coordinating appointments with other trips to town), and even weather conditions to provide culturally acceptable services to rural clients (Bushy 1997). Another aspect of rural life is that communities are smaller and more close-knit so that everyone is familiar with the personal affairs of his or her neighbors. If, for example, a woman is arrested for driving under the influence, the chances are significant that the person in authority knows her or her family (Boyd 1998).

Measurement and data analysis in research addressing health disparities in substance abuse

• There is a bidirectional relationship between alcohol use disorder and exposure to physical or sexual IPV and drug use also increases odds of IPV victimization 68; there are three times greater odds of IPV perpetration in couples who use drugs 69.
• Medications frequently prescribed for and used by older women include anxiolytics and sedative-hypnotics.
• Understanding group differences across segments of the women’s population is critical to designing and implementing effective substance abuse treatment programs for women.
• Bouts of heavy drinking, for instance, are likely to be tolerated less and to have more consequences when coupled with greater responsibilities to others, such as family and employers.
• Labels such as “alcoholic” or “addict” should be avoided and replaced with words such as “drinking” and “drinking problem” (Cohen 2000).
• Treatment access is difficult for patients with addictive disorders due to systemic, structural, and a personal-level barrier to a different system, including staff regards and user barriers 79, 95.

Among the significant barriers to treatment cited is the poor and unstable economic situation of women related to their past drug use, and the increasing financial problems, making it difficult to access medical services and addiction treatment. In addition, women needing support for their plight hint that it is often difficult to find transportation to treatment facilities because they cannot afford it or do not have other support from which to draw 46. It is, therefore, vital to provide training for healthcare professionals to become competent in providing services to women who abuse drugs 21, as well as in respecting human rights and medical ethics 28.

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

This phenomenon has been attributed to strict cultural sanctions against drinking by women that are typical throughout Latin America (Mora 1998) and are maintained by many Hispanics/Latinas in the United States. While our data was limited by being self-reported, cross-sectional data, the data included key measures, including the assessment of use of different substance (alcohol, diverse alternative tobacco products, and marijuana). Most importantly, as highlighted throughout this paper, the inclusion of items capturing intersecting identities and experience of discrimination allowed us to separate influences of minority statuses versus discrimination on health behaviors and outcomes.

• Subsequently, Native-American women are more likely to need help deciding on the location of their treatment program.
• The levels of glutamate and glutamate receptor expression are also variable through the menstrual cycle, probably due to a regulation of the glutamate system by sexual hormones.
• Moreover, sexual enhancement drinking motives may be important as SGM individuals may drink to initiate or enhance their sexual experiences,117,161,162,171 which have been systematically stigmatized.
• Stevens (2001) suggests that medical and substance abuse treatment providers need to work hand-in-hand to meet the needs of Native-American women, and that primary care providers should routinely screen for alcohol and drug abuse and discuss the negative health consequences of substance use in a culturally responsive manner during regular examinations.
• Lee acknowledges that talking about race, racism, or stigma due to immigration status might be difficult for some—especially white—healthcare providers.

Treatment Response

Rural areas have a higher proportion of older persons and higher poverty rates among the elderly than urban areas, and women constitute 65 percent of the rural poor age 65 and older. In addition, poverty rates in rural settings are three times higher for widows than for married women (USDA 2007). Hughes and Eliason (2002) present definitions that are inclusive and highlight the differences between sexual orientation and gender identity. Their definition of “lesbian” or “gay” is “a woman or man whose primary sexual and emotional attachments are to persons of the same sex” (p. 266).

In regard to mental health, interpersonal and direct experiences with discrimination can lead to heightened vigilance, challenge one’s beliefs about fairness and justice, create internalized stigma towards oneself, and exacerbate physiological and psychological stress, all of which contribute to poorer mental health outcomes 14, 16,17,18. A meta-analysis of 110 studies found a significant negative correlation between experiences of perceived discrimination and mental health status 19. Women are more likely to seek treatment for misuse of central nervous system depressants,14 which include sedatives sometimes prescribed to treat seizures, sleep disorders, and anxiety, and to help people fall asleep prior to surgery.

Results of the Literature Search

Others may seek treatment elsewhere but express concerns surrounding available support upon reentering the reservation after treatment (Berkowitz et al. 1998). Subsequently, Native-American women are more likely to need help deciding on the location of their treatment program. The rates of illicit drug use are relatively low among Asian- and Pacific-American women compared with other racial and Women and Alcoholism ethnic groups. Currently, methamphetamine (33 percent) bypasses alcohol as the primary drug of abuse upon treatment admission. After methamphetamine, the most frequent cause of admission for illicit drug use among Asian-American women is marijuana (16 percent), followed by opioids (11 percent), and cocaine/crack (11 percent) (HHS 2008a).