Addiction Treatment to Benefit from Database

OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine - Aug. 15, 2018 - PRLog -- The Addiction Policy Forum (APF), a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization, launched the Addiction Resource Center database (ARC) earlier this year and has been adding different state resources on a rolling basis. Maine, Texas, and Missouri are some of the most recent states to have addiction treatment providers listed on the database.

Danielle Tarino, the Vice President of Health Information Technology at APF, explained that CEO Jessica Hulsey Nickel noticed that there was a lack of scientifically-based, updated resources to educate families on substance use disorders and connect them with local treatment providers. So she decided to develop the ARC.

"The other available national and state local databases are clunky," Tarino said. "They can be difficult to use. In our experience in checking them, they are not always updated with accurate information. And they don't actually give you the information you need if you're a novice to this."

ARC's user-friendly design helps individuals to locate the information they're looking for. It includes 22 filterable options in its search criteria and a hotline to connect people with counselors and other medical professionals who can advise them on their particular situations.

"Google can take you down a long and sad rabbit hole of information that contradicts itself," Tarino said. "The ARC database is really designed to give people a one-stop shop for education, information and, of course, all the treatment resources that we have."

APF's research team scours these databases and follow up with different treatment providers to determine their services and update their information.

Old Orchard Beach is located in York County. The Office of the Maine Attorney General reported that the county had the second highest number of drug-induced overdose deaths in 2017. Currently, the ARC lists three treatment providers and will add more as time goes on.

An important criteria that determines which treatment providers are listed on the database depends on whether the businesses follow ethical marketing practices.

"We want to be the 'anti-call navigator' system," Tarino clarified. "We're not affiliated, nor do we have a relationship, with any treatment centers, nor do we plan to. We believe that our information is going to be based on assessment, based on the information being provided by the caller, and that whatever answer you get is going to be specific to what your needs are."

APF representatives are spreading the word about how the database can help families affected by the national opioid epidemic.

"My hope is that no one has to be my mom and dad," said Tarino, who has been in long-term recovery from a past substance use disorder. "There's someplace to go that gives accurate, scientifically-based, reasonable information and guidance on this topic when families are struggling."

ARC has gone live in 27 states as of this week and APF has slated the remaining states to be added to the database by 2018.

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