More Integration Needed for Dual-Diagnosis Patients, Canadian Report Says

Canada’s healthcare system needs to better integrate addiction and mental-health treatment, which typically are treated separately and, as a result, ineffectively, according to a new report from the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse (CCSA).

Researchers said that half of individuals with addictions also have mental illnesses, while up to 20 percent of people with mental-health problems also have addictions, the Canwest News Service reported April 9. People with schizophrenia are most likely to have a cooccurring addiction, the report said.

“These people are not getting the effective treatment that they need and deserve and therefore will come back to the health system seeking help over and over again,” said Rita Notarandrea, deputy CEO of CCSA.

The report said that treatment programs often require that one or the other disorder be designated as the primary problem rather than acknowledging that they are related and should be treated together. Addicts are often denied treatment at mental-health programs, and vice-versa.

The CCSA called for addiction and mental-health treatment delivery systems to be reorganized to accommodate those with dual diagnoses. “We need a unified national approach for the treatment and care of those that are suffering from concurrent disorders and, for example, integrated clinical practice guidelines,” Notarandrea said.