FHA TO STUDY DRUG USE

A seven-month project to evaluate drug treatment programs will also bring
more services for teens into the Fraser Health Authority.

The FHA's evaluation project will closely look at which treatment works for
which teen using which drugs, said Sherry Mumford, the health authority's
addictions leader.

The study is overdue, she said.

"We haven't had a study of this type since I can't remember and I've been
in this field for 15 years," said Mumford, who was a counsellor in Hope for
12 years.

The study will help the FHA addictions teams determine where its resources
will be best directed, she said.

While the ratio of kids using drugs isn't necessarily growing in the Lower
Mainland, the population increase means there are more young addicts.

In the past year, 1,200 youths came to the FHA for drug use evaluation,
treatment or information, Mumford said.

Many of the FHA youth treatment programs are run by contracted agencies,
Mumford said.

The FHA will also fund six more treatment beds in the Burnaby area, three
for girls, three for boys, and two more intensive day treatment programs,
one in Fraser South and Fraser East, in the Chilliwack area.

The treatments deal primarily with helping youth change their behaviour,
and not "detox" centres, Mumford explained.

The study will as well look at more practical aspects, such as how to
transport kids to urban treatment sites from smaller health authority
communities, she said.

Drug treatment staff will follow cases of youth aged up to 18. The young
participants will be asked to sign a consent form.

The FHA will create an evaluation report at the end of the study period in
March and interim reports along the way.

All participants will also have a follow-up three months after they finish
their treatment programs, said Mumford.

Currently, most treatment options for teens are as outreach/outpatients, in
intensive day treatment at a facility, or in residential treatment, said
Mumford.

The study will evaluate the success of those approaches, and the success of
client matching principles, she said.

In an era where 60 per cent of young users use more than one drug, together
or alternatively, evaluation and treatment gets complex, she said.

"It's much more complicated and more dangerous for the users, and we see a
lot more medical intervention. You might see a youth using a
methamphetamine and then using some pot or alcohol to take the edge off
that," she said. Add concurrent disorders, such as schizophrenia or
attention deficient disorder, and treatment is more challenging.