SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT CHALLENGES

Service users initially seek treatment for many different reasons. They may realize that they have an addiction and want help, they may have a family member who asks them to seek treatment, or they may be referred by their doctor or counselor. Some service users may also be court-ordered to attend treatment. Before you can determine a treatment plan for the service user, you must first screen and assess them to determine if they are struggling with an addiction and, if so, the nature and complexity of the addiction. When conducting any screening or assessment, you will have to ask service users a series of questions, some of which are very personal in nature. Consider, for example, the following questions from various screening tools designed to detect substance use addiction or behavioral addiction.

• Have you neglected your family because of your use of drugs? (Skinner, 1982)
• Is sex almost all you think about? (Carnes et al., 2010)
• Does gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family? (Gamblers Anonymous, n.d.)

These questions may evoke strong feelings of embarrassment, shame, or guilt from service users, which may make it difficult for them to answer truthfully. Service users may also be reluctant to admit they have an addiction if they are worried about how treatment will interfere with their job or familial responsibilities or if they are concerned about how they will pay for treatment.

In this Discussion, you will consider when and under which circumstances to use addiction screenings and assessments. You will also explore various challenges that may arise during a screening or assessment that could impact its accuracy, meaningfulness, or usefulness.

References:

Carnes, P., Green, B., & Carnes, S. (2010). The same yet different: Refocusing the Sexual Addiction Screening Test (SAST) to reflect orientation and gender.Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity,17(1), 7-30. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1080/10720161003604087

Gamblers Anonymous. (n.d.). 20 questions: Are you a compulsive gambler? https://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/content/20-questions

Skinner, H. A. (1982). The Drug Abuse Screening Test. Addictive Behavior, 7(4),363-371. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4603(82)90005-3

Learning resources

Screening and Assessing for Addiction

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Distinguishing between screening and assessment for mental and behavioral health problemsLinks to an external site.. https://www.apaservices.org/practice/reimbursement/billing/assessment-screening

Walden University, LLC. (2021). Introduction to screening and assessment for addictionLinks to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden University Blackboard. https://waldenu.instructure.com

Screening and Assessment Challenges

McNeely, J., Kumar, P. C., Rieckmann, T., Sedlander, E., Farkas, S., Chollak, C., Kannry, J. L., Vega, A., Waite, E. A., Peccoralo, L., A., Rosenthal, R. N., McCarty, D., & Rotrosen, J. (2018). Barriers and facilitators affecting the implementation of substance use screening in primary care clinics: A qualitative study of patients, providers, and staffLinks to an external site..Addiction Science & Clinical Practice,13(1), 1-15. https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13722-018-0110-8

Note: Read the section titled "Assessing Barriers to Screening for Substance Abuse."

Rural Health Information Hub. (n.d.). Barriers to preventing and treating substance use disorders in rural communitiesLinks to an external site.. https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/substance-abuse/1/barriers

Simulation Information

• Review the Learning Resources on screening and assessing addiction. Consider the definitions of screening and assessment and when and under which circumstances each is used.
• Review the Learning Resources on screening and assessment challenges. Think about how individual- and system-level challenges may impact the accuracy, meaningfulness, or usefulness of an addiction screening or assessment.

Post a response to the following:

• When and under what circumstances are screening and assessment used? Provide specific examples to illustrate your response.
• What is one challenge that might arise when you screen or assess service users for addiction?
• How might the challenge impact the accuracy, meaningfulness, and/or usefulness of a screening or assessment?
• How would you address the challenge?

Support your initial post with evidence from scholarly sources and include in-text citations and references in APA style