Treating Addiction Within the Health Care System

Dr. Nora Volkow knows about the addiction battles many Americans lose—how addiction destroys relationships, livelihoods and lives. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health, says the immediate response is to wholly integrate behavioral care as part of our routine health care expectations. She expects science and research to play a bigger role in the future, and predicts that we’ll be better at identifying people at risk for addiction. The future will also bring treatment that is precisely tailored to be most effective for each individual, and there will be more prevention options. Also on the horizon are chronic-pain medications that don’t come with the added risk of abuse
and addiction.