Addiction Theme Sought To Educate Millions That Treatment Works

APA has helped “move the needle” in a positive direction on addiction, bringing together primary and specialty care professionals interested in addressing substance use disorders (SUDs) in the populations they treat and communicating to millions that treatment for addiction works.

That’s what outgoing APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., said during the Opening Session of APA’s 2024 Annual Meeting, recounting his presidential theme, “Confronting Addiction From Prevention to Recovery.” The yearlong effort was a public education and advocacy campaign aimed at addressing four topics on addiction: tobacco and vaping, opioids, alcohol, and technological addictions. Numerous informational resources were created.

“I was inspired to create this year’s theme drawing on my own professional experience, as well as the knowledge, passion, and expertise of our membership to address the burden that substance use disorders and the behavioral addictions have on our patients and, more broadly, on society,” Levounis said. “We undertook this initiative because we are in a unique moment where we have incredible science, research, and tools that can help in the treatment of SUDs. Some of these, like naloxone and buprenorphine, can mean the difference between life and death for someone who lives with opioid use disorder.”

But many people are either unaware of, or unable to access, safe and effective treatments. Similarly, many clinicians are hamstrung by regulatory hurdles and legal gray areas that can lead to hesitancy in prescribing treatments, Levounis said.

“And so, we set upon our mission, leveraging the impressive advocacy and communications apparatus of the APA administration and the knowledge and expertise of our psychiatrist members to do two things—dispel myths and misinformation around addiction and state as loudly as possible that treatment for addiction is available, safe, and effective.”

Levounis especially highlighted APA’s initiative to bring together leaders from allied groups with an interest in addressing addiction: the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Academy of Family Physicians, and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“We came away from this gathering with a vision for moving forward and a commitment to marshaling our resources, sharing communications efforts, and collaborating on best practices whenever possible,” he said. “And our collective efforts reached millions of people in the process. I am confident that the legacy of this initiative will continue to impact millions more in the future.”

The initiative on addiction also entailed an enormous communications effort leveraging social media, television, and print media. Levounis hailed the work of Smita Das, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., who chaired the effort, and the four experts who served as subject matter experts for the four topic areas: Tauheed Zaman, M.D. (tobacco and vaping), Jeremy Kidd, M.D. (alcohol), Lief Fenno, M.D. (opioids), and James Sherer, M.D. (technology).

“Each of them represents the very best of our field and embodies the passion and dedication to our work that is a hallmark of APA members,” Levounis said. “Their enthusiasm for this initiative has been tremendous and is the reason why we have been so successful in disseminating evidence-based messages through social media, podcasts, animated videos, op-eds, and numerous interviews on major TV networks.”

As of late May, this effort had garnered approximately 3.8 billion “impressions,” all with the core messages that SUDs are treatable, that recovery is possible, and that treatment works when patients can access it. ■