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Kentucky News: CAPTASA Conference 2007
Published in the March 2007 Kentucky Board of Pharmacy Newsletter
On January 26-27, 2007, the seventh annual Clinical Applications of the Principles in Treatment of Addiction and Substance Abuse (CAPTASA) conference was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington, KY. The purpose of the conference is to educate health care professionals as well as recovering professionals about addiction management. Treatment for addiction must be a collaborative effort involving all aspects of health care. This conference facilitates a means for this collaborative discussion to occur.
CAPTASA began based on a realization that health care professionals are as susceptible to addictive disease as the rest of the population. It was found that, contrary to wishful thinking, no special immunity to addiction existed in the health care community. The need for prevention, education, early identification, intervention, treatment, and supportive recovery programs was overwhelming. Initially, each profession responded depending on its sense of responsibility to its own members, its resources, and its leadership.
Each program struggled, persevered, and evolved over the years. Health care providers determined that a collaborative meeting of the minds would result in more positive outcomes than by each unit functioning on its own. Thus, a planning committee was formed, and in February 2001 the first CAPTASA conference was held.
The two-day conference provides an excellent opportunity to network with other health care professionals involved with addiction management. It also provides a venue in which to learn about addiction prevention, education, and methods of recovery. Of more than 450 attendees, many were pharmacists in recovery, interested pharmacists, members of the Pharmacist Recovery Network committee, and members of the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy and staff.
At the 2007 meeting, various themes pertaining to addiction management were presented. Topics included “Update From The Human Genome: Mother Nature Versus Mother Nurture,” “Principles of Pain Management for the Addicted Patient,” and “Evidence of AA: It Works.” Pharmacists who presented at the conference were Dave Sallengs of the Drug Enforcement and Professional Practices Branch of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and Brian Fingerson of the Kentucky Professionals Recovery Network (KYPRN), who is also an adjunct assistant professor for the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. Mr Sallengs spoke on the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) system while Mr Fingerson spoke on “Oh No! Not My Kids! The Adolescent Challenge,” which showed methods for decreasing addiction rates in the teenage population. Mr Fingerson also was master of ceremonies for the conference.
Thirteen hours of continuing education (CE) credit were granted for the conference by the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy. Thirty-six CE certificates were awarded to pharmacists for their attendance. For more information regarding past and future conferences, visit www.captasa.org at the
Kentucky Physicians Health Foundation or 502/425-7761.
For comments, questions, or concerns regarding drug or alcohol addiction, contact at KYPRN at kyprn@insightbb.com or 502/749-8385.
