The Substance Abuse Resources and Disability Issues (SARDI) Program is administratively housed within Boonshoft School of Medicine's Department of Population and Public Health Sciences. The mission of SARDI is to improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities, including those who are concurrently affected by behavioral health issues. The SARDI Program achieves its objective by conducting collaborative and participatory research; developing intervention approaches and training; and disseminating related information.
SARDI was created in March 1990 after receiving a federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (formerly OSAP) grant to provide infrastructure development for disability service agencies, university offices of disability services, and other agencies representing people with disabilities. This five-state project marked the early beginnings of efforts to provide substance abuse services to people with disabilities who often were ignored in prevention efforts.
Since its inception, SARDI has been awarded over 100 grants and subcontracts to provide some of the following to diverse populations and organizations in Ohio and throughout the country:
- a variety of direct behavioral health services including prevention education, intervention, and treatment
- research
- training
- consultation
- evaluation services
Populations of Focus
SARDI works with a variety of populations targeted by our different projects. The populations we have extensive experience working with are as follows:
- Students in special education classes
- Middle school students
- Adults with disabilities
- College students with disabilities
- Women with disabilities at risk for or experiencing domestic violence
- Deaf and hard of hearing adults
- African Americans over the age of 50
- African American adults at risk for HIV
- Adults and youth at risk for substance abuse
- Adults with traumatic brain injuries
- Adults with visual impairments, some with Albinism
- Transitional aged young adults (18-24) with substance use disorders
- Teachers and rehabilitation counselors working with people with disabilities
- Behavioral health providers working with people with substance abuse disorders
- Community-based providers of prevention and treatment services
Expertise and Services
The SARDI staff receives training and implements a variety of Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) and offers training in a variety of evaluation and behavioral health-related topics. The following EBPs represent our experience and expertise:
- Motivational Interviewing (MI)
- Strengths-Based Case Management (SBCM)
- Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model (TREM)
- Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA)
- Self-Help In Eliminating Life-Threatening Diseases (SHIELD)
- Prevention through Alternative Learning Styles (PALS)
- Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)
- Contingency Management
- HIV Risk Reduction
- HIV Pre-and Post-Test Counseling
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Peer-Support Recovery Services (PSRS)
- Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF)
- Community PROMISE (Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies)
- HIV Counseling, Testing and Reporting (CTR)
- Comprehensive Risk Counseling and Services (CRCS)
- Prevention for Positives (PFP)
SARDI also conducts a variety of training including formal education, plenary and poster sessions, conference presentations, technical assistance, and online training sessions.
Download an overview of the SARDI program and a few current projects (PDF).