April 17, 2007
Screening of documentary on addictions planned
CARBONDALE, Ill. — An encore screening of HBO's feature-length documentary on addictions will air from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, April 30, in Student Center Ballroom B on the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus.
"Addiction, "shown on television last month as the introduction to HBO's 14-part series on the subject, consists of nine segments, each produced by a different filmmaker.
"It talks a lot about the disease model as opposed to the moral model, stigma, recovery and the community's role in welcoming people in recovery," said D. Shane Koch, director of addiction studies in the College of Education and Human Resources' Rehabilitation Institute.
National advocacy and education groups in some 35 states used the premiere as a focus for events aimed at educating community members on the nature of addiction, advances in treatment, local recovery resources and the problems faced by those trying to kick their habits.
"When the initial push was on, SIUC was on spring break — we didn't want to schedule it when no one was here," Koch said.
The SIUC encore will include a panel discussion with Wendy Baille of Franklin-Williamson Human Services; Theodora Binion-Taylor, director of the Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse; Steve Bryant of the Illinois Department of Corrections and director of CiviGenics; Jim Davidson, warden of the Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center; Fenlis Jefferson of A Safe Haven; Bill Johnson, executive director of Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association; and Peter Palanca, executive vice president of Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities. The event also offers members of the public the chance to talk with people recovering from addictions and those who treat them.
"It's a good opportunity, especially if you missed it the first time or don't have HBO, to learn about the disease, what's going on in treatment and where we are headed in the future," Koch said.
While pre-registration is not required, organizers prefer that those planning to attend give advance notice so they can make enough chairs and snacks available. Call the Rehabilitation Institute's office at 618/453-8262 to do so.
In addition to the Rehabilitation Institute, sponsors of the encore presentation include the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association and CiviGenics, a corrections services firm based in Massachusetts.
HBO produced the documentary with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which underwrites projects aimed at improving health and health care, along with the National Institute on Drug Addiction and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Additional material on the project as a whole appears on HBO's Web site at http://www.hbo.com/addiction.