Register now: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5017510673728957453

Thursday, March 4, 2021, 12pm-1pm ET (Washington, DC time, corresponding to 11CT/10MT/9PT)

A webinar produced in partnership with the ATTC Network Coordinating Office and AMERSA

This free webinar will review the epidemiology of adolescent substance. We will discuss the substances most often used by youth, look at trends in youth substance use over time, and discuss the protective role of family and positive social supports.

As a result of participating in this webinar, you will be able to: 

• Outline substances most commonly used by adolescents in the U.S. and describe trends in adolescent substance use over time;
• Recount the relationship between adolescent substance use and key indicators of health; and
• Relate how the family and positive social supports serve as protective factors.

Presenter

Veronika Mesheriakova, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, UCSF Director of UCSF Youth Outpatient Substance Use Program (YoSUP)

Dr. Mesheriakova is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Director of the UCSF Youth Outpatient Substance Use Program (YoSUP), a multidisciplinary, family-based program that provides comprehensive assessment and evidence-based outpatient treatment for youth with substance use disorders. She also directs the UCSF Youth Addiction Management Training Program which offers training in youth-specific addiction treatment to UCSF professional trainees including fellows, residents, medical students, nurse practitioners, social workers, and clinical psychologists.

The rising numbers of young people with high-risk substance use, especially suffering from overdose, is alarming. Adolescence and young adulthood (under the age of 25) is the period of highest incidence and greatest impact of mental health and substance use disorders, yet there are no youth-specific services in place.

Further, youth are not benefiting from and are often excluded from most adult harm reduction and treatment services. Good and effective care for youth needs to address their complex age-specific needs. Youth’s pattern of use is more often explorative and nearly all youth who use substances experience early trauma experiences and mental health challenges. Any overdose event is an overall crisis and increases the risk for a following one.

The aim of this conference is to raise awareness for this important aspect of the overdose crisis and initiate a debate on necessary initiatives to create a proper clinical system addressing adolescence.