By Benjamin Nordstrom, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day, “Break the Bias”, is fitting for our approach to care and recovery — which is to meet people where they are and understand the factors impacting their lives and what led them to addiction. We look at the whole person and the social factors that influence their health and well-being (also known as the social determinants of health); gender is one of them. In our first appointments with female clients, it’s important that we take into consideration the experience and impact of living as a woman in our society. Further, in much medical research (including in our own field) there is a bias toward studying men. This can mean that many commonly used interventions are similarly biased toward male patients.
According to the Center for Gender and Justice, clinical services for addiction treatment that address women-specific issues are more effective for women than are traditional programs originally designed for men. However, many of the services women encounter are not designed for them. * Services that are designed and validated for the different genders are considered gender-responsive treatment (GRT).
The researcher Stephanie Covington says GRT for women includes “creating an environment through site selection, staff selection, program development, content, and material that reflects an understanding of the realities of women’s lives and is responsive to the issues of the clients.” Like BHG’s approach, GRT is strengths-based, and focuses on the assets people have to help them get into recovery.
At the same time, we need to understand the high rates of trauma exposure in our patient population. Also, multiple studies have shown that compared to men, women in substance use disorder treatment have higher rates of mental health challenges. I encourage you to work with your Clinical Supervisors and Regional Clinical Directors to find ways to create programming for the women we treat.
More and more BHG programs are offering IOP, with many more planned to start this year. An example of including gender-responsive programming is, when the IOP is large enough, to run women-specific IOPs. The Evidence-Based Treatment Seeking Safety (we have a free, on-demand training so you can learn how to deploy it) is an excellent choice to include in the curriculum of a women-only IOP.
Seeking Safety could also be delivered in regular outpatient group settings. Consider having specific women’s and men’s groups in your programs. Other choices for curricula include “Helping Women Recover” and “Helping Men Recover.” Again, your Clinical Supervisor and Regional Clinical Director are great resources to help organize such interventions.
Offering GRT is a great way to help support our women patients in a way that has been shown to improve outcomes and boost retention. We all need to remember to “Break the Bias” and find new and innovative ways to support our patients as they fight for their lives!
* Abbott & Kerr, 1995; Carten, 1996; Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1994; Covington, 1998a; Finklestein, 1993
** J Subst Abuse Treat. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 Mar 1. Published in final edited form as:
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2010 Mar; 38(2): 97. Published online 2009 Dec 16. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2009.09.004
