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History
- Referred to health
Companion bill
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Requires development of educational materials for screening alcoholism and chemical dependency in women to health care providers
In Senate Committee · Rules · Sponsor Ellen C. Jaffee
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act requiring the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services to develop educational materials regarding screening for alcoholism and chemical dependency in women to health care providers
Summary of provisions
This bill would require the Commissioner of the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Health, to provide and publish educational materials for health care providers regarding screening, assessment, and diagnosis of women for alcoholism and chemical dependency.
Justification
Alcohol and substance abuse appears to be on the rise among women. The May 2008 edition of the Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research journal published findings that show a 50% increase in the number of women reporting alcohol abuse. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, from 2004-2006; an annual average of 6.3 million women (9.4%) aged 18 to 49 needed treatment for a substance use problem. Of the women aged 18 to 49 who met criteria for needing substance use treatment, 84.2% neither received it nor perceived the need for substance use treatment.
In a 2007 University of Minnesota study of 2,750 men and women, published in the Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research journal, researchers found that men and women showed some key differences in symptoms of problem drinking. Traditionally, the rate of drinking problems and overt alcohol dependence has been higher among men than women. However, researchers have suggested that one reason could be a potential "male slant" in the criteria used to diagnose these problems.
In a recent Assembly roundtable discussion regarding alcohol and chemical dependency services available to women, held jointly by the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the Assembly Task Force on Women's Issues, and attended by community providers and advocates, it was discussed that many women are not diagnosed with an addiction disorder because health care providers often do not screen for alcoholism and chemical dependency. Furthermore, it was discussed that when health care providers do screen for addiction, the health care provider typically does not know what questions to ask, or how to elicit a truthful answer from the patient regarding alcohol or drug use. Data confirms that health care providers often do not screen for addiction. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, only 8.7 percent of people with drinking problems reported receiving any screening or advice from their primary-care physician.
This bill promotes screenings by health care providers by giving providers access to educational materials that will assist them in screening for addiction.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal impact
Not yet determined.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.