Substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery are often approached as separate disciplines, despite their shared goals and interconnected roles in improving individual and community health. Historical policies, evolving scientific understanding, and longstanding misperceptions have shaped how we respond to substance use and have contributed to fragmented approaches across the continuum of care.
This interactive, conversational session will explore how we arrived at our current approaches to substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery and how we can move toward a more integrated, coordinated response. Through an examination of key historical policies, the evolving understanding of addiction as a chronic health condition, and changes in diagnostic practices, participants will be encouraged to reconsider traditional assumptions about when prevention begins, when it ends, and how it intersects with treatment and recovery.
With particular attention to opioids and stimulants, the discussion will highlight the importance of primary and secondary prevention, opportunities for early identification and intervention, and the role of attitudes and beliefs in shaping access to services. Participants will explore how prevention principles and practices can be integrated across healthcare, behavioral health, and community-based settings, strengthening collaboration among professionals who have traditionally worked in separate systems.
Ultimately, the session will challenge participants to think beyond traditional service boundaries and identify opportunities to build a more connected, evidence-informed continuum of prevention, treatment, and recovery.
Objectives:
- Examine how historical policies, evolving scientific understanding, and misperceptions have shaped approaches to substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery, particularly related to opioids and stimulants.
- Describe the interconnected roles of primary and secondary prevention, early intervention, treatment, and recovery in addressing substance use across the continuum of care.
- Identify how advances in addiction science and changes in diagnostic practices have influenced our understanding of substance use disorders and opportunities for earlier identification and intervention.
- Identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration across prevention, healthcare, behavioral health, and recovery services to support a more integrated, coordinated, and evidence-informed response to substance use.