Georgia Women’s Addiction Hotline

Georgia Women’s Drug & Alcohol Abuse Statistics

This study describes the initiation and maintenance of illicit drug use, risky behaviors, and the substance use treatment experiences of women in Georgia. Qualitative interviews with 55 drug-using women (mean age 36 years; SD = 9.52), were conducted during April-September 2011. Participants presented diverse histories of drug use initiation and substance use, risky behaviors, and drug treatment participation. All participants reported concurrent use of different substances, including home-produced injection preparations. Women described their experiences of both the positive and negative effects (physical and psychological) that they attributed to their use of drugs. Findings enrich our understanding of the environment in which substance use is initiated and maintained in a female population in Georgia, and illustrate the importance of culture and the role of social factors in the development of injection drug use. Results can provide direction for tailoring the development of interventions for substance use disorders, public policy discussions regarding the treatment of women who use drugs, and future research on substance use among women in Georgia and other post-Soviet nations[1].

Several recent studies that have attempted to describe the environment in which substance use by women in Georgia is initiated and sustained, and to identify factors influencing substance use trajectory and treatment-seeking behavior of women (Kirtadze et al. 2013b; D. Otiashvili et al. 2013). This research has suggested that poor self-concept combined with severe social stigma, absence of comprehensive women-focused treatment programs, and often hostile and judgmental attitudes of health service providers, all play critical roles in creating barriers to both general health and substance-use-related services for women with substance use problems.[2]

The present paper examines the current status of women-centered substance use disorder treatment in Georgia. Four major issues are identified that adversely impact the delivery of effective services for women with substance use disorders: Policy Issues; Sociocultural Issues; Programmatic/Structural Issues; and Personal/Interpersonal Issues. These four issues are seen to form a complex, dynamic system that serves to maintain the current ineffective service delivery system and suppresses movement toward an effective service delivery for this highly marginalized and at-risk population. How these issues, and their interplay, present continuing barriers to the development and implementation of effective treatment for this population are outlined and discussed. In order to overcome these barriers, solutions must be sought in four areas: Policy reform; Public health campaigns; Development and implementation of comprehensive women-specific confidential treatment models; and Empowering women. Specific goals in each of these areas that would achieve a positive impact on various aspects of the functioning of the current service delivery system for women with substance use disorders are suggested. Simultaneously seeking solutions in all four of these areas would improve the service delivery system and benefits women with substance use disorders[2].

References
1. Women Who Inject Drugs in the Republic of Georgia: In Their Own Words… from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6876852/
2. Comprehensive Women-centered Treatment for Substance Use Disorders in Georgia: Current Status and Future Directions… from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5877419/