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Description

Family members (i.e., nuclear family, extended family, chosen family) of people with substance use disorder can positively impact addiction treatment initiation, engagement, retention, as well as sustained recovery. This training will reframe the role of family members in the lives of people with substance use disorder, highlighting the importance of family and social support in achieving optimal health outcomes. The experience of family members and their capacity to improve all addiction-related outcomes will be discussed. Additionally, this training will highlight gaps in current resources for family members and how education and information provided to family members can impact the treatment and recovery of their loved ones. The importance of providing evidence-based information to families will also be emphasized. Lastly, the training will introduce concrete and simple changes to current models of addiction treatment to engage the family and leverage the invaluable support they provide to people with substance use disorder.

Intended audience

All medical and non-medical staff seeking to learn about the role of the family in addiction treatment are encouraged to attend.

Speakers

Alicia Ventura, MPH (she/her)

Alicia Ventura is the Director of Special Projects and Research for Boston Medical Center’s (BMC) Grayken Center for Addiction, Training, and Technical Assistance Program and BMC’s Office-Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) Program. She is also a board member and membership secretary of the Addiction and the Family International Network. Alicia has over 15 years of experience conducting public health and clinical research. She has focused the last decade of her career exclusively on research, evaluation, and program development related to mitigating the harmful consequences of alcohol and drug use, including the impact on affected family members. Alicia developed a harm-reduction-focused educational program for family members affected by a loved one’s substance use, which she directs and co-facilitates out of Boston Medical Center. Alicia also currently provides training and technical assistance for healthcare organizations on improving the integration of the family into routine addiction treatment. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a qualitative study looking at the experience of affected family members and their interactions with the healthcare and addiction treatment systems; she is also a Co-Investigator on a mixed-methods study examining the attitudes toward and experiences of addiction treatment providers as related to interacting with family members. Alicia has lectured on the reciprocal relationship between affected family members and their loved ones with addiction for local, national, and international audiences. She has published on various topics, including reproductive health, HIV, alcohol, and drug use, and family members impacted by substance use. Alicia received her Master’s in Community Public Health from New York University.

Objectives

Upon completion of the training, participants will have the knowledge necessary to:

• Describe the impact of family members on the lives and treatment of loved ones with substance use disorder.
• Explain how education and information provided to family members, directly and indirectly, impacts substance use outcomes.
• Demonstrate practices that can be used to integrate family members into the care of people with substance use disorder.

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