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The elephant outside the room: Thoughts on treatment policy from a population perspective

First published: 10 May 2019 | Last updated: 10 June 2019

A difficult issue in planning ways to help people with alcohol problems is that most will never access treatment. This talk will discuss some of the treatment policy implications of a health concern where the majority of those affected do not seek help and explore: 1) why people with alcohol problems don’t come to treatment; 2) what differentiates treatment attendees from those who don’t seek help; 3) what happens to problem drinkers who don’t come to treatment; and 4) what does the general public think happens to people who don’t come to treatment. The talk concludes with the suggestion that one component of a comprehensive treatment policy is to find ways to take treatment to those in need rather than making those in need come to treatment.

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John Cunningham

Senior Scientist


John Cunningham received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Toronto in 1995. He has spent his career at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and is currently Associate Professor of Psychology and of Public Health Sciences at University of Toronto. His research is driven by the question, “how do people change from addictive behaviours?” To answer this question, John has combined population research methods with clinical and other research traditions. The findings from these studies have been translated into a series of brief interventions for problem drinkers and other drug users that can be applied in treatment or community settings.

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