UW School of Social Work prevention scientist and professor, Richard F. Catalano, has played an instrumental role in illuminating the role of prevention in the U.S. Surgeon General’s landmark report Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. The report, which was released on November 17, sheds light on both the problem, and also the advances that are being made to help those who are suffering from addiction. It is the first time the U.S. Surgeon General has published a report dedicated to substance misuse and related disorders.
Nearly 21 million Americans—more than the number of people who have all cancers combined—suffer from substance use disorders. “Alcohol and drug addiction take an enormous toll on individuals, families and communities,” said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. “Most Americans know someone who has been touched by an alcohol or a drug use disorder. Yet 90 percent of people with a substance use disorder are not getting treatment. That has to change.” Substance misuse problems may occur at any age. However, adolescence and young adulthood are particularly critical at-risk periods for preventing or even delaying young people from trying substances and reducing the likelihood of substance-related disorders later in life.
"It was a great honor to be asked to be the editor of the prevention chapter of the report," says Catalano who is also president of the Society for Prevention Research. School of Social Work Associate Professor Kevin Haggerty, who directs for the School's Social Development Research Group, assisted with the prevention chapter. In addition to summarizing the state of prevention science, Catalano notes that the prevention chapter highlights that communities are a powerful organizing force for bringing effective prevention programs and policies to scale, making a real impact in early initiation into substance use, substance misuse and addiction. The School's Social Development Research Group, which Catalano co-founded, pioneered Communities that Care, a community guided prevention planning system that has demonstrated long-term impacts on reducing alcohol and cigarettes use among teens.
Watch the King 5 interview with UW School of Social Work Associate Professor and Social Development Research Group Director Kevin Haggerty, who contributed to the report.