Drugs and Substance Abuse
Question 1
Drug and substance abuse is one of the major problems that is affecting the globe. Notably, through the help of various social organizations and the many social workers around the world, many people have been helped overcome this menace of substance abuse across the globe. Some of the crucial roles that social workers play include the identification and assessment of potential drug and substance addicts. Since many social workers are commonly found in places such as schools, prisons, and hospitals, they can identify drug users among them and get the necessary help that they need. Furthermore, human service workers also participate in the direct treatment of patients. Although many social workers graduate in social work programs with information on drug and substance abuse, many of them continue with their studies in counseling and alcohol hence making the qualified to treat drug addicts. Furthermore, human service workers act as educators of the effects of drug and substance abuse in places such as schools and hospitals. Lastly, social workers actively participate in research, mostly in university situations. This kind of research equips them with the necessary knowledge on the drugs that are abused the most by people. These methods are very effective since there has been a significant decrease in the number of drug addicts among the youth globally.
Question 2
Substance abuse treatment program
The fight to decrease substance abuse in societies has been ongoing for a very long period. Private bodies, individuals, and governments have consistently been struggling to fight the substance abuse that has become rampant in most societies. In this context, the focus is on the drug abuse treatment program that I will use in my community. Due to the forthcoming Annual Human Service Conference, I am required to present the program before the congregation. The program is only supported by a few well-wishers alongside the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) in my country.
To begin, the treatment program that I have established for my community is the rehabilitation program. The program operates by getting hold of those who are involved in drug abuse, especially the already addicted. The program offers several facilities that are important for solving addiction problems. The full rehabilitation process may take up to 6months. The complete process, however, is divided into other stages, which last for either 1 or 2 months. At every step, an individual improves his or her condition to some extent. Moreover, rehabilitation can be divided into two categories which are; outpatient and inpatient rehab. The inpatient rehab usually allows the patients to recover at the hospital facility (Finney et al., 1996). On the other hand, outpatient rehabs allow the patient to recover from their homes. However, the therapies used in both inpatient and outpatient rehabs are the same.
Additionally, the program is intended to identify people within the community who have become addicts of drugs. The program targets all addicts and heavy drug users in the community. As a result, drug users of every age and gender will be picked. However, due to a large number of people with the limited nature of rehabilitation centers, the program will only allow a group of 100 individuals to go to rehab. Out of the 100, 50 will be on outpatient rehab program while the other 50 will be for the inpatient rehab. The 100 hundred patients will be under rehabilitation for 3 to 6 months. After this, another slot of addicts will be allowed to the rehabs. The program is likely to take close to two years. During this period, a lot is expected. For instance, there is the likelihood that the state government will intervene and offer support after the proposal that we recently wrote, which was received well by the government and accepted to provide their support after the Annual Human Service Conference. At the same time, several NGOs are also being attracted to the program, with most of them making pledges to support the program. The ultimate goal of the idea is to significantly reduce substance abuse in my village after statistics ranked my community as being the second in the whole country in drug abuse (Malec, 1999).
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NIDA will implement the program in my community immediately after the Annual Conference. Facilities have already been set in the identified areas. With the organization, we are planning to appoint some members from the public that will help facilitate the program. The members will help to determine the community members should be taken to the rehab. After everything has been laid down, the activity will commence immediately. Moreover, the program was operationalized by NIDA a month ago. This was after the proposal that some community members and I wrote to them seeking their support. The organization was so much willing to be part of the project. As a result, the organization drew a plan to implement the program. In the procedure, the organization put aside some funds; it made public adverts of the program and so on.
The process of implementing the program can be affected by some factors like cultural issues. The community has it’s own cultural beliefs, some people use alcohol as part of the essential requirement in ceremonies. As a result, it will be difficult to tame them from using alcohol. For that reason, the success of the program will only be achieved if the organization chooses to collaborate with the community tenably, and portray a lot of respect to their cultural beliefs. Besides, its success will also depend on the collaboration with other agencies and bodies that will help to fund the program for two years.
Lastly, drug abuse can be controlled through the implementation of effective health communication among drug users. This is an additional prevention strategy where we inform the drug abusers concerning their health. Educating them more on the danger they predispose their bodies when taking drugs will help a lot as they will get to learn that they are endangering their bodies. Additionally, educating them concerning their health will make them more cautious and prevent them from drug addiction. This is because they will get to learn that abusing drugs is more of an expense to their health than benefit. Furthermore, conducting drug abuse and addiction campaigns is also a strategy that will help reduce drug abuse. By the organization holding campaigns, it will inform the parties involved on issues like peer pressure and even the myths and misconceptions that are not true. In the campaigns, issuing of fliers will also help spread information concerning the harmful effects of using drugs on the larger society. The organization should involve the people who have been victims of drug addiction in the campaigns. It will be a motivation for the drug abusers that they also have a chance to be free from using drugs.
References
Malec, J. F. (1999). Goal attainment scaling in rehabilitation. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 9(3-4), 253-275.
Finney, J. W., Hahn, A. C., & Moos, R. H. (1996). The effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient treatment for alcohol abuse: the need to focus on mediators and moderators of setting effects. Addiction, 91(12), 1773-1796.