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Substance Use Disorders Among Adolescence

Whitney Pierre

Capella University

NURS-FPX6026

Dr. Davis

00/00/2021
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Substance Use Disorders Among Adolescence

Substance use disorders (suds), is substance dependency or abuse, have a

tremendous influence on people, families, and society. Suds arise when persistent illicit drug or

alcohol use introduces clinically substantial impairment, such as health issues, disability, and

inability to perform critical obligations at work, school, or family. Lowering suds and associated

matters in adolescence is essential for physical and mental wellbeing, quality of life, and safety.

Out of 21.5 million persons 12 years and above who had SUD in the previous year, 20.2 million

were adolescence of 18 years of age or above, accounting for 94.2% of all who had SUDs.

Position Concerning Health Outcomes For Substance Use Among Adolescents

  Substance use in adolescents varies from experimentation to severe problems of

substance use. Every use of substances, even experimental, is a risk to short-term issues, such as

accidents, violence, overdose, and unwanted sexual activity. The use of substances also affects

the development of the teenage brain (Sussman et al.,2018). Adolescents are at increased risk of

acquiring long-term impacts, including mental illnesses, school failure, substance use disorders,

and a rise in their ability to addict when they frequently use alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, or other

drugs in their adolescence. Adolescents indulge in substances for many reasons, such as simple

peer pressure, desire to try new things, a try to solve problems, or increased performance in

class.  Adolescents are physically wired to seek new experiences, take challenges, and carve out

their personalities. Trying substances may satisfy all of these normal changing desires, but

negatively that can have lasting repercussions. There are several therapy options available to

meet the particular requirements of adolescents. When focusing on evidence-based treatment

techniques that have been scientifically evaluated and proven successful in treating adolescent

drug addiction. Effective therapies for teenagers mainly consist of behavioral therapy, whether
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provided in residential or inpatient settings or outpatient. While addiction medicines are effective

and frequently used for adults, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not naturally

authorize them for teenagers. However, initial reports from controlled trials suggest that some

medicines may help adolescents achieve abstinence; therefore, clinicians should consider the

requirements of teenage patients on a step-by-step basis when establishing a tailored treatment

plan. The position toward improving the care and outcomes is to extend the evidence-based

treatment for the SUD individuals. This may include new clinical trials with less stringent

inclusion criteria, the use of electronic medical data, observational research, simulations, and a

mix of all of these techniques. This is a wake-up call for the government to act on substance use

among adolescents. Addiction is linked to many medical, mental, psychological, economic,

social, spiritual, familial, and legal issues, posing a tremendous burden on afflicted people,

families, and society.

The Interprofessional Team's Role In Facilitating Change

People who struggle with abuse of substances have distinct bio-psycho-social-spiritual

requirements. Interprofessional healthcare teams give patients access to an extensive range of

treatment and services choices custom-made to their necessities. Interprofessional Teams

collaborate to make health-related choices for patients while using their respective discipline's

knowledge and abilities (Reeves et al., 2017).  Inter-professional teams (IPT) play an essential

role in screening patients for substance use, giving interventions, referring them to opioid

addiction therapy or treatment when required, and offering continuous follow-up and monitoring.

According to research, IPT successfully encourages collaborative care to enhance the quality of

treatment and results for patients. According to Reeves et al. (2017), social workers perform an

essential function by conducting prevention-focused interventions in schools, families, and

communities as part of the interprofessional team. Social workers are critical in the diagnosis and

treatment of drug abuse problems. They conduct screening and evaluations to identify the patient

is suffering from substance abuse requirements using a bio-psycho-social-spiritual method.

Further research from Reeves et al. (2017) indicates that social workers act as case managers,

coordinate intake, design therapeutic plans, offer psychoeducation, and conduct group, family,

and personal therapy for drug abuse and coinciding psychological health issues. Social workers

make recommendations to and interact with other expert organizations.

Finally, social workers are trained in crisis response and may assist with crisis planning.

Additionally, Pharmacists are experts in enhancing cost-effective and safe patient-centred

pharmaceutical treatment results. Pharmacists dispense, monitor, and educate patients about

medicine. Assessing and updating the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) is part of

their monitoring. The PDMP is a state-broad prescription registry that tracks where, when, and

who prescriptions and fills specific prescription medicines with a high proclivity for abuse.

When abuse is suspected, this report can be utilized to detect and intervene. Pharmacists are

specialists in an inter-professional team in using the medicines in a treatment strategy that is

important for an individual at risk of opioid use or who has a problem with opioid use. Some

people are better treated for psychiatric disease complications; therefore, consulting with a

psychiatrist for doubly-diagnosed clients is advisable.

Moreover, licensed doctors and other experts, such as physician assistants, nurses, assess

patients, take a health background, order assessments, diagnose diseases, and offer treatments

and health advice. Clients suffering from substance use problems are more likely to be seen by

primary care physicians, emergency department physicians, and psychiatrists. Medical

physicians validate a substance use illness assist in diagnosing and treating the patient's
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comorbid medical conditions and physical dependency, which is critical in establishing the

patient's appropriate level of care. To develop a treatment plan, physicians evaluate prior medical

history and test findings. Physicians carefully examine pain treatment options, balancing the

necessity to decrease pain sufficiently to avoid the danger of inappropriate self-medication with

the inherent risk in opioid usage.

Further research Reeves et al. (2017) indicates that Medication-assisted therapy (MAT) is

recommended for treating opioid use disorders because it combines counselling and medication.

MAT may help reduce the frequency and quantity of substance use, criminality, and the

transmission of contagious illness. It can also help lessen a substance's euphoric and cravings

effects and increase treatment retention.

On the other hand, Prescribers are advised to adhere to opioid prescribing standards to decrease

the risk of abuse and improve patient outcomes. MAT has been underused despite its status as an

evidence-based intervention (Jones et al., 2015). To support and encourage doctors, SAMHSA

funds the Provider Clinical Support System (PCSS), an online portal that offers free training,

mentorship, and other services to DEA-approved clinicians to encourage the use of medication-

assisted therapy and practice guidelines for patient pain management. Interprofessional

initiatives are required to help combat the opioid crisis among adolescents.

Position Of Others Supporting A teams Approach

Savic et al. (2017) explain that given the wide range of additional challenges that clients

frequently face, a growing body of research shows the potential benefits of integrated care to

address the needs of persons with alcohol and other drugs (AOD) problems. However, the

scholarly focus has been sparse on treatment systems, organizations, and doctors' techniques to

make integrated care more accessible. Doctors and nurses, for example, are increasingly being urged
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to collaborate in the delivery of patient care among substance users (Leathard, 2018; Plochg,

Klazinga, & Starfield, 2019). They do it in various contexts, including hospital emergency

departments, grassroots networks in neighbourhood care, and structured integrated care chains

(Atwal & Caldwell, 2017). Furthermore, Broyles et al. (2018) indicate that Unhealthy drugs and

alcohol (AODs) are serious health concerns around the globe that causes physical, psychological,

and environmental damage. Developing a team of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals with

the knowledge and abilities to deal with AOD is crucial. Many researchers have attempted to

create the required collaborative facilitators. These include the necessity of appropriate

organizational arrangements, such as explicit shared norms and suitable information formats, and

the space, resources, time, space, professionals to become aware of each other and address

arising problems. Moreover, some authors suggest the need for an open and responsive

professional culture, cooperation willingness, and open communication. These approaches are

portrayed as a challenge for healthcare managers to encourage and support the required

circumstances.

The Evidence And Position Of Others With Contrary To A Team Approach

Bailey et al. (2021) explain that lack of access to health insurance and SUD therapy is a

serious issue for all ethnic, low-income, and racial groups. These groups experience higher

hurdles to high-quality substance use treatment programs. Additionally, there are also

discrimination differences in access to certain treatment programs. One study indicates that low-

income individuals were considerably less likely to be administered buprenorphine, one of three

medicines authorized by the FDA to treat opioid use disorder. Bailey et al. (2021) current

evidence show that low-income individuals who seek treatment encounter larger hurdles to

completion, are more likely to have unpleasant treatment experiences, and may have poorer
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treatment results due to disparities in the quality. Marginalized communities frequently

experience substance abuse issues. For example, the risk of increasing overdose fatalities from

synthetic opioids like fentanyl, a significant contributor to the current surge in drug overdose

deaths, differs by ethnicity and has been highest for low-income persons. Finally, punitive

reactions to substance use among adolescents continue to affect marginalized and low-income

people disproportionately. Despite having roughly comparable drug usage rates, these

individuals are significantly more likely to be arrested and imprisoned for drug-related offences.

Involvement with the judicial system can disrupt treatment; prison and jails frequently lack

effective SUD among adolescents' treatment programs, putting the teenager in danger of

overdose and relapse when they are back home from the prison or jail. Broyles et al. (2018)

explain that a one-size-fits-all approach to the opioid problem will fail to account for these

distinctions.

Moreover, the author clarifies that Medicaid development under the Affordable Care Act

(ACA) significantly provided health coverage for many persons with SUDs, including

adolescence. Before the expansion, many low-income and marginalized individuals with SUDs

were ineligible for Medicaid and generally uninsured because they did not fulfil the stringent

eligibility standards for federal disability plans. Furthermore, the ACA mandated that states add

SUD treatment as a covered benefit for those who qualified for Medicaid expansion. However,

more can be done to utilize Medicaid to enhance SUD treatment and services, including

extending Medicaid, covering all Medicaid services, and increasing provider engagement.
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Conclusion

States has the chance to make effective efforts to stop and address substance-related

disorders if it adopts an evidence-based public health strategy. Such an approach can minimize

the number of persons suffering from addiction by preventing drug start or escalation from use to

a problem; it can lessen the length of disease for victims and decrease fatalities related to

substance. A public health approach will aid minimize the guaranteed damage caused by abused

substances, for example, infectious illness spread and accidents from motor vehicles. As a result,

promoting much more extensive use of appropriate evidence-based protective, rehabilitation, and

treatment measures are required.

References

Atwal, A., & Caldwell, K. (2017). Do multidisciplinary integrated care pathways improve

interprofessional collaboration? Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 16(4), 360-367.

Bailey, A., Hayes, K., Katch, H., & Solomon, J. (2021). Medicaid Is Key to Building a System

of Comprehensive Substance Use Care for Low-Income People.

Broyles, L. M., Conley, J. W., Harding Jr, J. D., & Gordon, A. J. (2018). A scoping review of

interdisciplinary collaboration in addictions education and training. Journal of addictions

nursing, 24(1), 29-36.

Leathard, A. (Ed.). (2018). Interprofessional collaboration: from policy to practice in health and

social care. Psychology Press.

Plochg, T., Klazinga, N. S., & Starfield, B. (2019). Transforming medical professionalism to fit

changing health needs. BMC medicine, 7(1), 1-7.

Reeves, S., Zwarenstein, M., Espin, S., & Lewin, S. (2017). Interprofessional teamwork for

health and social care. John Wiley & Sons.

Savic, M., Best, D., Manning, V., & Lubman, D. I. (2017). Strategies to facilitate integrated care

for people with alcohol and other drug problems: a systematic review. Substance abuse

treatment, prevention, and policy, 12(1), 1-12.

Sussman, S., Cowgill, B., Galstyan, E., & Richardson, J. (2018). Substance abuse. In Handbook

of Pediatric Behavioral Healthcare (pp. 213-227). Springer, Cham.