National Treatment Indicators 2012–2013 Data

Background

Substance abuse is a significant health, economic and social issue in Canada. One way to reduce the burden of substance abuse is through evidence-informed treatment. Such an approach requires reliable data to inform decisions about effective system and service planning.

In 2012, the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) found that 4.4% of Canadians age 15 and older (approximately 1.3 million persons) met the criteria for a substance use disorder (Statistics Canada, 2014a). However, several sources, including the National Treatment Indicators (NTI) project, indicate a gap between individuals who could benefit from treatment services and those accessing them.

Variations in the way substance use treatment data are collected across Canada has made it difficult to describe a complete picture of the use of treatment services, the people accessing these services, and the trends among jurisdictions and over time. These information gaps also restrict Canada’s ability to provide comprehensive treatment services data to initiatives addressing the health and social impacts of substance abuse at the international level.

Project Purpose and Contribution

The NTI project was developed to work towards collecting consistent information across jurisdictions to fill the information gaps and help improve the quality, range and accessibility of the treatment system in Canada. The NTI report presents information about treatment services for use by researchers, analysts, decision makers, advisors and program administrators looking to support system and service planning, development and communications.

NTI data contributes to the system-level information required by decision makers to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate evidence-informed services and supports for the treatment of substance abuse in Canada by:

Providing a multi-jurisdictional picture of treatment system use through data collected according to a set of common indicators;
Providing a central, accessible source of information that allows those within and outside the substance use field to discover what national treatment system data exists;
Building Canada’s capacity to provide meaningful, reliable information on substance use treatment services to support evidence-based decision making at regional, provincial, territorial and national levels; and
Facilitating collaboration and knowledge-sharing between Canada and other countries and international organizations by providing a central source for national-level data.

Limitations

It is important to note that the NTI report captures data from publicly funded, treatment services only and does not include information from sources such as privately-funded specialized treatment centres, community supports (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous) or primary care services (e.g. those offered by family physicians). Variation in data collection and reporting mean that direct comparisons between jurisdictions should not be made. It is also important to mention that not all information collected from the jurisdictions could be presented in this report; rather, only a subset of indicators agreed upon by the NTI Working Group (NTIWG) is included. This decision was made to ensure the report remains as succinct yet informative as possible.

Results

This fourth NTI report provides 2012–2013 fiscal-year data from six provinces, one territory and one provincial association and has expanded its scope to include information on the primary substance for which treatment was sought. The report also includes information on the total number of hospital stays related to substance use disorders and their associated costs.1

As the fourth in the series, this report looks at trends in the data from 2009–2010 to 2012–2013. The results show a great deal of variability in service use trends across Canada. Many jurisdictions have seen a substantial increase in the number of individuals accessing specialized treatment services in their respective jurisdiction. However, the ratio of episodes to individuals has remained relatively consistent across most of Canada.

Key Findings

Between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013, a total of 155,210 unique individuals2 from six Canadian provinces and one territory accessed publicly funded substance use treatment services. In total, these unique individuals accounted for nearly 225,000 treatment episodes.3
On average, individuals accessing publicly funded treatment services account for approximately 1% of a jurisdiction’s entire population.
Non-residential treatment accounted for the majority (between 61% and 77%) of treatment episodes in every participating jurisdiction.
On average, most individuals accessing residential treatment, non-residential treatment and non-residential withdrawal management only access these services once throughout the year; most individuals attending residential withdrawal management programs, however, access the service twice or more throughout the year.
Many jurisdictions have seen a substantial increase in the number of individuals accessing specialized treatment services in their respective jurisdiction over the past four fiscal years.
As much as 13% of unique individuals accessing substance use treatment accessed treatment because of someone else’s substance use (e.g., they accompanied a family member or friend to treatment, or they accessed treatment services themselves to help them cope with a friend or family member’s problem). This rate has remained consistent since 2009–2010.
With the exception of the Yukon, males accounted for the majority of all individuals accessing specialized treatment services during 2012–2013.

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National Treatment Indicators 2012–2013 Data

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