GRANT TO COMBAT SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Statisticians To Assess Researchers' Efforts

The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse has received a $600,000 federal
grant to devise ways to get more people into treatment and ensure they
stay there and remain sober.

The grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is one of 12
awarded nationwide. It was announced this week during a news
conference at Bridge House, a substance-abuse center in the Lower
Garden District that will be the council's partner in the project.

The two organizations will hire researchers to develop the program,
as well as biostatisticians who, by tracking each patient, will be
able to prove whether that regimen works, said John King, the
council's executive director.

Although quantifying results might seem like an obvious step, it
represents a radical change to traditionally minded therapists, he
said. King said that's part of the reason behind the grants: to
encourage people to be as imaginative as possible, as long as what
they do is effective.

In line with that concept, the New Orleans team will concentrate more
on ways to motivate people to stay in therapy instead of relying on
the old-style method of being confrontational and telling them how to
correct their bad habits, said Paul Toriello, a rehabilitation
specialist from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center who
will be part of the project.

"The motivation is to keep them in treatment," King said. "If they
leave after the first few days, you're not doing any good."

Bridge House was chosen not only because it agreed to work with the
council but also because it met the program's criterion of having at
least 100 people admitted each year to its inpatient treatment program.

"This is going to be an excellent opportunity for Bridge House to
demonstrate that we can improve our outcomes and show that
statistically," said Buzzy Gaiennie, its executive director.

Bridge House, which was founded in 1957, had about 125 inpatients
Wednesday and admits between 500 and 600 people each year, he said.
About 65 percent of the men and women who enter treatment there are
addicted to crack cocaine, Gaiennie said, and 25 percent of the
clients are dependent on heroin. Prescription-drug abuse is also
common, he said.

The grant will be issued in annual installments of $200,000, starting
with the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Under the terms of the
program, the federal money will reimburse the New Orleans team for its
expenses, King said.