SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HAWAII--The U.S. Army Health Clinic-Schofield Barracks (USAHC-SB) will now provide the clinical portion of the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP), including assessment, treatment and rehabilitation. These substance abuse services will officially be referred to as the substance use disorder clinical care (SUDCC). Conversely, the Armed Forces Community Services will be providing the non-clinical functions of prevention, education, training and biochemical substance testing. These services will continue to fall under the auspices of ASAP.
On Oct. 1, ASAP underwent a significant realignment from the Army Installation Command (IMCOM) to the Army Medical Command (MEDCOM). The primary goal of this realignment is to integrate substance abuse clinical care with the behavioral health system of care. The recent changes initially stemmed from an Army-wide reassessment of the program's design, resources and effectiveness. Correspondingly, the realignment of substance abuse treatment with behavioral health treatment now follows national healthcare trends.
Statistics show that substance abuse is more commonly found with service members who have behavioral health issues. In fact, approximately 30 percent of service members who have behavioral health issues also struggle with comorbid substance abuse issues. Moreover, service members who suffer from suicidal ideation are 50 percent more likely to abuse alcohol.
In taking a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the aforementioned issues, treatment teams consisting of addiction treatment providers, primary care managers (PCMs), behavioral health providers and case managers are currently being established. These multidisciplinary teams will result in better-coordinated care and, ultimately, better quality care for the service members. Essentially, substance abuse counselors in the SUDCC clinic will work closely with the local embedded behavioral health (EBH) teams to identify service members experiencing substance abuse more efficiently, and early in their abuse cycle.
The new USAHC-SB SUDCC program is housed in the Multidisciplinary (Multi-D) Clinic, located in building number 556 on Schofield Barracks. Service members can self-refer for substance abuse treatment by visiting the Multi-D Clinic directly, or by visiting their assigned EBH Clinic.
Prevention, training and biochemical substance abuse testing services can still be accessed by visiting ASAP; located in building number 2091, on Schofield Barracks (the ACS building on Kole Kole Avenue).
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