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San Antonio partners unite to demand treatment (2-27-01)
The Alamo City has been selected as one of 16 U.S. cities for the Demand Treatment! project, a new nationwide campaign aimed at increasing the number of people who receive quality treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse in their communities. Significant barriers and discrimination prevent some 3 million Americans from receiving treatment that could help them recover from drug and alcohol disease.San Antonio Demand Treatment! is a countywide effort of 35 diverse organizations (list follows). Over the next two years, this initiative will increase the number of people assessed for alcohol and drug problems in hospitals and primary health care settings, thereby driving up the demand for treatment.
“We want the people of San Antonio to know what they can do if they or someone they know needs help with an alcohol or drug problem,” says the program director, Michelle Shenberger of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, lead agency on the project. Project strategies include publishing an addiction impact report to define the cost of addiction to Bexar County in terms of health care, criminal justice and diminished workplace productivity. The partnership also will develop a bilingual public awareness campaign to combat the stigma surrounding addiction. “Addiction is a disease, not a disgrace,” Shenberger emphasizes.
Demand Treatment! is organized by Join Together, a national resource for communities fighting substance abuse and gun violence, through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The project will be coordinated by the Southwest Texas Addiction Research & Technology (START) Center at the U. T. Health Science Center.
Contact: Will Sansom
Demand Treatment!
San Antonio City Partners
*Alamo Area Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Addiction (AAAPTA) — A collaboration of 12 TCADA-funded treatment providers
*Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center of Bexar County
*Alpha Home
*Center for Health Care Services
*City of San Antonio — Community Initiatives
*Community First Health Plans
*Employee Assistance Professional Association of Central Texas
*Family Service Association — Employee Assistance Program
*The Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation
KBBT 89.5 FM "The Beat"
KCOR 1350 AM "La Primera"
KROM 92.9 FM Estero Latino
KXTN 107 FM Tejano
*KCCY "Y100" FM Country
*KENS Radio AM 1160
*KKYX 680 AM Classic Country
*KONO 101 FM Good Time Oldies
*KRRT Fox 29 and WB 35 Television
*KXXM-FM MIX 96.1
*Methodist HealthCare — Mental Health Services Marketing
*Methodist HealthCare Ministries of South Texas
*Mission Vista Behavioral Health System
*Palmer Drug Abuse — San Antonio
*San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
*San Antonio Fighting Back of United Way
*San Antonio Metropolitan Health District
*San Antonio Police Department
*Southwest Texas Addiction Research and Technology (START) Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio [LEAD AGENCY]
*The Patrician Movement
*Time Warner Cable Advertising Sales of San Antonio
*The San Antonio Current
*United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County
*University Health System — Correctional Health Care Services
*University Health System — Psychiatric Services