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Responding to drug and alcohol problems in health professionals, with special reference to Ontario
Author(s) -
RANKIN JAMES G.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1080/09595239100185291
Subject(s) - health professionals , health promotion , promotion (chess) , discipline , medicine , employee assistance , drug , nursing , action (physics) , psychology , public relations , public health , psychiatry , health care , political science , law , physics , quantum mechanics , politics
Abstract Concern has been expressed about alcohol and drug problems among health professionals because of the possibility of professional impairment, although there has been no evidence of increased legal suits by patients against such individuals. Alcohol and drug problems among health professionals were recognized but usually ignored by health professional organizations, except for sporadic disciplinary action, until the mid‐1970s. At that time, important initiatives took place, particularly in the USA. Approaches developed so far by health professional groups to help their members with alcohol and drug problems can be broadly categorized as either coercive/therapeutic/disciplinary or therapeutic. The former approach is exemplified by US programs for physicians, and the latter by the approach to that profession in Canada. It is suggested that the employee assistance model is an alternative approach that could be adopted by health professionals, and that this model could be expanded to a health promotion/prevention/assistance model. Although there has been significant progress in the development of programs in Ontario to help health professionals with alcohol and drug problems, this development is faltering because of lack of support from health professional organizations.