Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:930-934
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
Alcohol and drug abuse consultation in the general hospital: a systems approach
M Galanter, TB Karsu and JF Wilder
The authors describe a program that is directed at assuring effective
treatment and referral for alcoholic and addicted patients in a general
hospital; the program was developed to assure maximal utlization of
available addiction treatment facilities without adding to the hospital
staff. Drawing on systems theory, the authors review both a pragmatic and a
conceptual basis for psychiatric intervention with paraprofessional support
to provide consultation to the general medical staff who treat alcoholic
and addicted patients. They stress the feasibility of altering the nature
of the hospital system to achieve more effective treatment for these
patients.
