Creating Alcohol and Other Drug, Trauma, and Mental Health Services for Women in Rural Florida

SUMMARY

Located in central Florida, the Triad Women's Project is a comprehensive system of care developed to respond to the needs of women and children living in a three-county semi-rural area. The women have histories of abuse or violence, co-occurring alcoholism and other drug (AOD) and mental health disorders, and have been high utililizers of behavioral healthcare services. This paper will describe the efforts of collaborating providers, the women themselves, services researchers, and concerned community members to develop services to assist these women in their AOD recovery, their healing from abuse, and their empowerment in dealing with mental illnesses. Practical information on establishing consensus, dealing with barriers and filling service gaps will be presented.

Key Words:

• Alcoholism
• drug abuse
• women
• physical abuse
• sexual abuse
• rural