I have a Return to Written Question 5-17(4) asked by Mr. Yakeleya on February 11, 2013, to the Honourable Tom Beaulieu, Minister of Health and Social Services, regarding alcohol-related health conditions.
The actual costs to the Department of Health and Social Services of alcohol-related health conditions cannot be determined with a sufficient degree of certainty. While some health conditions can be linked to alcohol-related causes, those same health conditions may be due to other non-alcohol-related causes. Therefore, every individual case must be assessed to determine whether alcohol was a factor or not. However, there is no practical or feasible way of doing this. Similarly, alcohol-related conditions are not reportable under the Disease Registries Act, and as a result there is no mechanism for consistently collecting this type of information.
In spite of this, the department recognizes that the costs of alcohol-related health conditions are significant in the Northwest Territories. Alcohol misuse and abuse are considered to be major cost-drivers within the health system. With respect to hospitalizations, the average annual cost for those hospitalized with either a primary or secondary diagnosis of alcohol misuse is approximately $6.5 million.
Much like measuring the costs of alcohol-related health conditions, there is no universally accepted measure of success in alcohol treatment rehabilitation programs. In some programs, success is measured by sobriety. However, there is little agreement on how long a person needs to be sober to be counted as a success. In other programs, harm reduction through a reduced level of alcohol consumption is considered a success.
One of the more common ways of measuring treatment program success includes tracking the proportion of participants who complete the program. However, it should be noted that for programs that record only the number of participants who complete the program there is no follow-up with the participants. This is done in order to ensure that participation in the program is strictly private and confidential.
No personal information about the individuals participating in treatment is kept and, therefore, follow-up contact is not possible. While the department does not formally track the proportion of participants who complete treatment programs, Nats’ejee K’eh Treatment Centres does occasionally provide the department with participant completion rates. From April 1, 2012, to October 31, 2012, there were a total of 99 clients who had entered treatment, with 83 completing the program.
Ultimately, success is best measured by the individual who attended treatment. For some, staying sober through the 20-day program is a success. For others, remaining sober for weeks or months after treatment is a success. For still others, consuming less alcohol following treatment is success. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.