Meth use is major topic at Idaho Conference on Health Care

The growing concern over meth use will be a major topic at this year’s Idaho Conference on Health Care Conference to be held Oct. 22-24 at Idaho State University. Substance abuse experts have prepared various presentations concerning the treatment and prevention of meth use and its effects on the family.

Glen R. Hanson, M.D., senior advisor to the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health and director of the Utah Addiction Center, will present “Meth Dependence and its Long Term Consequences: It’s All in Your Brain” Thursday, Oct. 24, at 10:45 a.m.

Hanson is a member of the Utah Governor’s Methamphetamine Task Force and has worked closely with the State of Utah and Salt Lake County Divisions of Substance Abuse to develop substance abuse training for health care professionals.

Other presentations concerning substance abuse are listed below:

•    “Meth Addiction and Children – A Toxic Mix,” presented by Jay Wurscher on Thurs., Oct. 23, 1-2 p.m.

•     “‘Comeback Kids’ – Children of Meth Addicted Parents Return Home,” presented by Jay Wurscher on Thurs., Oct. 23, 2:15-5 p.m.

•    “Implications of Meth Abuse: Pharmacological, Oral and Oral Health Services,” oral health track by Tara Johnson and Denise Bowen or the ISU Department of Dental Hygiene, and Ann Spolarich, internationally recognized author and speaker on pharmacology and the care of medically complex patients who teaches clinical medicine and pharmacology at the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, and Pharmacology in the Audiology Department at the Arizona School of Health Sciences, Friday, Oct. 24, from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

The Idaho Conference on Health Care will be held at Idaho State University from Wednesday, Oct. 22 through Friday, Oct. 24, inside the Pond Student Union Building. Pre-registration by October 15 is required and continuing education units are available.

The conference is sponsored by the Kasiska Foundation and co-sponsored by the Idaho Public Health Association, Idaho Psychological Association, the Idaho Dairy Council,

Bingham Memorial Hospital and the National Association of Social Workers Idaho Chapter.

For more information, contact Victoria Bañales at 282-3155 or banavict@isu.edu.