ABSTRACT
Determining the alcohol treatment needs of a particular service area, such as a county or a state health planning region, is a difficult and complex undertaking. Planners are hampered in assessing the severity of various local alcohol problems by both the lack of available data and differing opinions as to which data are significant (Ryan, 1984/85). The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has become increasingly aware of the necessity of developing reliable quantitative based computational techniques when estimating alcohol abuse and alcoholism treatment needs (AEDS, 1982). Resources for the treatment of alcoholism have, in many cases, been allocated on the basis of utilization levels of existing treatment facilities. This situation has resulted in little effort being exerted to identify the unmet needs of an area. Many state agencies still employ simplified “utilization approaches” for alcoholism needs assessment. These utilization approaches base current and future needs upon past utilization rates of alcohol facilities and services. A major limitation of this demand approach is the omission of various population subgroups who have a need for treatment but are currently not using the facilities/services.
