Planning Care for Persons with Addiction
Support architectures for persons and social care workers in dealing with addiction have widely majored in treatment options, forgetting to emphasize on the ideal social capital frameworks affecting this demographic and that work towards bolstering societal involvement. The increasing and main concern on broadening the social capital frameworks for persons with addiction in the coming days demands an ideal comprehension of models that will be better-positioned to uphold social care. Such will have to involve support for this demographic at personal levels and identify extrinsic ties with formal practices, multi-disciplinary and interagency approaches, and government involvement. Contributions from established networks and supporting systems are acknowledged for bolstering the social care worker’s potential in addressing the issue of substance abuse and addiction. Whereas addiction has long been considered as a moral failure or dearth of self-control, the contemporary social care space recognizes and manages the situation as a chronic brain disease, which is in most instances associated with relapses (Carroll, 2000). This paper has identified and will be discussing some of the cardinal domains for facilitating social capital for persons with addiction;
A Social Capital Framework
Through the formation of pro-social ties, addiction victims enhanced their degree of social capital, for instance, self-efficacy and resilience, via social interactions supporting their sobriety and personal well-being. Via such positive social associations, individuals increase their chances of gaining access to resources that aid their general welfare and psycho-social functioning (Mueller & Ketcham, 1987).
- Problem Solving
Persons with addiction have a higher likelihood of getting high and ignoring a problem before ever putting any drives towards resolving the problems. In most instances, they come to the realization that, the problem is still present, once they sober up and this puts them right where they were initially. This cycle is vicious and ends up trapping addicts in a perpetual loop of unresolved problems and lessons not learnt. As days go by, their critical thinking abilities and coping mechanisms continue diminishing even more (Tajeri et al., 2020). Several addiction treatment programs have advanced to offering extensive programs that include teaching problem-solving skills, coping mechanisms, communication, and anger management. Once persons with addiction learn to address their issues, through the various adopted problem-solving skills, this would be of notable significance in aiding their recovery. This will assist in realizing significant levels of self growth, which will assist in preventing relapses (Gorski, 1986). With every achievement, their self-esteem and self-confidence advances, resulting in more accomplishments.
Notably, substance abuse damages the brain with detrimental impacts on an individual’s cognitive potentials. Several addicts have been on substance abuse for a long time that, they have lost the essential life skills they initially had, with some having been on the substance at tender ages that they did not have the chance of developing these skills, and herein, need to be taught. Given this dynamics, the social care domain recommends programs that encompass multiple problem-solving skills training to aid their clients excel in rebuilding their livelihoods (Tajeri et al., 2020). The hack to perpetual addiction recovery lies in the individual’s ability of functional societal involvement. Herein, models like the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), problem-solving groups, motivational interviewing and, several other therapies are ideal approaches for addiction victims in this case (Miller & Rollinick, 1995).
- Strength-Based Approaches
Strength-based approaches build the client on their potentials, particularly viewing them as resilient and resourceful in adverse circumstances. There are various approaches in this model that can be used to bolster social capital and overall personal well-being, and they include; strength-based case management, family support service and Solution Focused Therapy (SFT).
Strength-Based Case Management aims at focusing in the individual’s potentials and primarily applies three founding principles. The model encourages the use of informal social support ties, proposes sound community involvement by the case managers, and emphasizes on the relation between the person with addiction and case manager (Regis et al., 2020). Such a model would be ideal for persons with addiction in terms, of identifying the informal support networks available for linkage, and community to aid in the recovery process and relapse, prevention.
The family support ties, seek to give support to the family whenever there are potentially dangerous concerns arising from the entire substance abuse plexus of a family victim, and that can immediately impact the family’s welfare. Herein, the support services works towards empowering and connecting the family as a unit such that, they have a similar end goal of assisting one of the own, in the recovery process, and refraining from substance abuse (White & Powell, 2013).
The Solution Focused Therapy, stress on the solution that can assist persons with addiction and not the problems that need to be addressed. The approach is primarily a short-term, brief therapeutic approach that works towards building on the service user’s strengths, encourages feelings of positivity, and instills hope. The model focuses on the ideal future; all problems have exceptions, the successful efforts thus far, along with, establishing meaning and strengths (Institute for Solution Focused Therapy, 2020).
Notably, counseling employs strength-based approaches as a model of introducing positive therapeutic experiences. Herein, the service provider focuses on internal strengths, resourcefulness, placing less focus on failures and social deficits (Miller, 2010). This approach assists the client in establishing a mindset that aids in setting their intention and focus on positive capacity building. Additionally, they become perceptive of their resilience, and making extra rational prospective for both self and others. The acquired skills assist them in surviving and flourishing regardless of how tough life gets.
- Multi-Disciplinary Approaches
Addiction is a difficult vice to beat. Whenever there are joint professionals working in unison to assist addiction victims recover from the vice, there is an increased likelihood of success. Recovery from addiction is not merely founded on abandoning the substance use, and neither is rehabilitation merely based on sobriety and therapy. Addiction is a mind, body and spirit disease, and herein, all the health facets need to be addressed for overall well-being of persons with addiction. Notably, the treatment approach is not the same throughout but they all have a similar goal –recovery (Mountain-Ray et al., 2019). Some individuals require pharmacotherapy, others detoxification, psychotherapy, support groups, and others management of the co-occurring conditions.
In this model, the treatment is both traditional and holistic. Rehabilitation units that exceedingly integrate a multi-disciplinary approach will be ideal in distinctive scenarios. The primaries of this model include therapeutic assignments, personal therapy, arts and experimental, along with psycho-educational groups. To realize long-term recovery, the rehabilitation models need to cover behavioral enhancement, well-being activities, training and support. Herein, those to immensely benefit from this approach include; adolescents, alcoholism and poly-drug use victims, those with multiple diagnoses, and those willing to amend their habits. The ones not fitting this cadre, along with those, seeking methadone maintenance are excluded. Addiction victims with poor reading skills, and are not willing to change, are also excluded.
Multi-disciplinary approaches are better effective in residential settings as the environment offers an ideal space for the client’s self improvement. The preferred treatment is usually 22 to 28 days for the inpatient residential rehabilitation, and over a month for outpatient management, succeeded by up to 2 months of aftercare meetings. The approaches involved include; pharmacotherapy; psycho-social and behavioral therapies, and self-help groups.
In the pharmacotherapy; the client is discouraged from alcohol and substance abuse; herein, employing medication in suppressing the withdrawal symptoms, blocking the euphoric effects, replacing the substance with prescribed meds, or treating co-occurring mental disorders (Klein, 2016).
Psycho-social interventions; such is aimed at modifying destructive interpersonal feels, perceptions, and conducts via personal group, marriage and family therapies (Stogiannidou & Loizou, 2016). When it comes of therapy for persons with addiction, there are several recommended approaches like the 12-step program, which trains and depends on client giving in to a higher power to heighten their success in recovery from their addiction. Herein, the clients are taught the 12-steps leading to recovery. Additionally, there are other approaches like the Minnesota model and Alcoholic Anonymous that have proven beneficial in this case. The client is taught to appreciate a day at time while refraining from the substance abuse, focusing on the present, forgetting the past, and acquiring hope for a better future. Increasingly, they are linked to sponsors with experience in alcohol abstinence, and who are ready to help those in the initial days of recovery. There are several outpatient programs and detoxification units employing contemporary pharmacotherapy and utilizing compassionate social care.
Additionally, behavioral therapies are useful in eradicating unsuitable behaviors and encouraging desirable traits, along with the self-help groups for mutual supports and encouraging persons with addiction to maintaining their abstinence pre-, intra-, and post treatment.
Towards A Rights-Based Approach
Associating change in policies to particular organizations, interventional approaches, or strategies is, in most instances, difficult and otherwise counterproductive. Drives by associations that set forth diversity in expertise, jurisdiction, and viewpoints can offer key impetus to establishing novel norms and can heighten pressure on global establishments to modify their principles of practice. Harm reduction is considered as an ideal rights-based approach to benefits persons with addiction (Erickson, 1999). The involved components are tailored towards respecting and protecting the dignity and rights of drug users. Notably, social inequality significantly impacts persons with addiction, and herein, harm reduction approaches is there to ensure that victims of drug addiction have their rights honored, including the right to healthcare (National Advisory Council on Drugs, 2003). Some of the notable harm reduction approaches that benefit those with drug addiction include;
- Route-transmission interventions; this strives towards preventing the move towards harmful procedures of drug administration, or attempting to change a drug users current mode of drug administration to safer methods.
- Needle and syringe programs offer sterile injection tools to injection drug users, herein preventing and controlling HIV and other related infections (World Health Organization, 2003).
- Harm reduction provides access to medical services for those with addiction problems, by ensuring that injection drug users are afforded their right to health care minus any discriminations or judgment.
Person-Centered Approach for Addiction
This approach has proven beneficial to persons with addiction in multiple ways. The person-centered approach takes the stress of the substances and associated behavior, herein, broadening the emphasis to involve the entire person and their perception of reality (Rassool, 2011). Rather than focusing on the addition, the approach necessitates the social care worker to investigate, how the individual has been struggling with the substance addiction, and after effect behaviors after the substance ingestion. This approach assists persons in recovery to alter their view of self, in the chase towards improving self-image and increasing esteem. Herein, the victims need to be up for coping with their thinking processes, emotions, and drives that will unfold as they face the triggers of their addiction. Person-centered approaches provide the ideal setting for actualizing these aspects, through providing the necessary instruments and framework to advance deeper and self-examine themselves and their connection to how the view themselves as a whole “within a plexus of self, socio-historical realities.”
Additionally, the model drives persons in recovery towards facing their truth minus external distractions but with the support of a perceptive, considerate counselor who employs conventionalism towards their viewpoints, in a bid to derive ideal processes to sobriety (Syan et al., 2020). It is mainstream practice for setups to incorporate person-centered approaches for their residential programs for persons recovering from alcoholism and addiction, along with several other associated disorders.
Conclusion
Regardless of the competitive state of inquiries on social capital, it still is a model supporting a comprehensive framework for comprehending the effect of social ties and connection on healthcare and well-being (Shiell, Hawe & Kavanagh, 2020). Social capital theories offer architecture for the organization of social realities with the capacity to bolster or hamper caregiving at a terminal diagnosis. Applying social capital models in particular spaces is essential in instituting social capital conceptions and recognizing social areas of care for specified demographics.
Close attention to social capital is the way forward because it does not conceal other essential objectives in service developers’ minds. Notably, social capital is a principal trigger of health inequality, and that income inequality is but a medium in this association. Developing social capital is thus not a cheap substitute to plummeting income inequality and should, therefore, not trigger the diversion from establishing initiatives that provide for basic human dignity (Shiell, Hawe & Kavanagh, 2020). At the individual level, staff working on establishing social capital needs to be well trained in identifying other aspects and having access to the know-how of social enclosure advocates in selecting, getting, and keeping a home, a job, and social life. The authorities need to be familiarized with the tension and distinction in priorities posed that every theoretical position employed might have on resource allocation, and establish an ideal balance supporting persons that use services and concurrently invest in the entire community. Additionally, service designers need to develop a balance between striving to create novel “social capital or enclosure programs” and the lesser task of plowing the approach through accessible services
Through acknowledging and utilizing micro-assets existing within the local setting, social care workers can support individual social reintegration and thriving community organization. Whenever, persons early in addiction recovery get linkage into positive community resources, it is projected that social capital, will advance by extension.
