Context Matters: Health Disparities in Substance Use Disorders and Treatment

Abstract

Social work is uniquely poised to lead in the development and implementation of multilevel strategies to both address substance use disorders (SUDs) and tackle existing inequities in SUD treatment. It is critical that there be an explicit focus on context, racial justice, and community empowerment in educational efforts designed to train graduate social work students when preparing them for professional work in the behavioral health field. This article provides a review of the literature on disparities in SUD and SUD treatment. The notion of cultural competence in SUD treatment is critically examined. Finally, the role of social work education and training in tackling inequity and the realization of justice is discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• context
• cultural competence
• disparities
• racism
• social work education
• substance use disorders

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [R25 AA021714].