October 16-22 is National Addiction Treatment Week. This initiative, in which AAMC is a collaborator, spotlights the addiction treatment gap and champions compassionate, evidence-based approaches to care. It's our hope that by sharing the stories and experiences of dedicated practitioners who provide care to patients with addiction, the academic medicine community will contribute to ending the stigma surrounding addiction and encourage medical professionals to embrace individualized, compassionate addiction care.
In 2019, AAMCNews shared examples of physicians and hospitals taking emergency department-based overdose care to the next level: starting patients on the road to addiction treatment.
That same year, AAMCNews also reported on the shortage of addiction medicine specialists.
That shortage still exists today.
Alongside our collaborators, we're working together to share three important messages:
- Addiction is a chronic, treatable medical disease.
- Effective treatments are available.
- Recovery is not only possible but achievable.
To help us share this message, download the 2023 National Addiction Week toolkit, which includes podcast scripts, email templates, sample social media posts and images, and logos and graphics.
Providers: If you have relevant experiences to share with this community, we want to hear about them. Reply directly in this thread if you're willing and able to share!
We also want to make you aware of these excellent patient resources provided by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, including directories of addiction treatment providers and support groups, needs assessment tools, and a Spanish-language pocket guide.
------------------------------
Nicole Buckley
Communications Strategist
Association of American Medical Colleges
------------------------------