There is concern, however, that recent reports linking moderate drinking and lower rates of heart disease and osteoporosis could be a disincentive for alcoholic women to abstain. Nonetheless, research on alcoholism is making exciting strides. At the same time, advances in neuroscience and imaging technology are enabling scientists to study the living brain, with the prospect of more effective and targeted drug therapies. Yet, despite progress in understanding women s mental health and a broader arsenal of effective treatments, there can be little practical impact unless efforts are made to improve access to care. Currently, women face a range of treatment barriers not common to men, including responsibilities to home and children, fear that treatment will threaten their custody of a child, and feelings that they need alcohol or drugs to cope with daily situations.
Women also are more likely to lack adequate funds to pay for health care or to be uninsured.
For these reasons, treatment programs for women must be carefully tailored. Recent studies of women undergoing treatment for substance abuse found that permitting women to retain child custody during treatment predicted a more successful outcome, particularly if the children were welcomed in the treatment program, according to McCaull. Outcomes also improve when psychiatric comorbidities, interpersonal skills, parenting skills and work reintegration were included in treatment programs. Another factor affecting access to treatment is mental health coverage. While the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 provides for limited parity and rules which require the equalizing of annual and lifetime financial benefit caps for group plans and for employers with more than fifty workers, the law does not require employers to offer mental health benefits.