Training health professionals in substance abuse: a review

Abstract

Alcohol- and drug-related problems are a major component of the work of health professionals. Most professionals are inadequately trained to handle the problems they will confront in this field. The need for training in aspects of substance abuse is widely accepted. This paper is a review of reports of such training programs in English-speaking countries. The programs have been reviewed in four categories: (1) courses for practitioners and teachers of health professionals, (2) courses for medical students, (3) courses for nurses and nursing students, and (4) courses for other health professionals. Many programs have achieved their objectives, but documentation for many of them is insufficient to provide guidance for future program development. In general, knowledge gain is easily demonstrated, but changes in attitudes and skills require special conditions in training.