Social Workers in Substance Abuse Intervention

Introduction

According to Galvani (2012), substance abuse and addiction is considered as disorder among the people, and it is also characterised by self-destructive pattern if using substances lead the human beings towards a significant physical and mental health disturbance as well as ultimate death. The aim of the literature is to analyse the role of the social workers, who are playing a crucial part in supporting the people, misusing substance and provide them better environment to live and stay happily. As stated by Hutchinson, Galvani and Dance (2013), the content related to information about the drug abuse among the people, the reason of the rise in the percentage of substance abuse among the people as well as its effects on the living condition of the individuals are discussed in this essay. Through this study, it is possible to review the existing literature and articles, which are related to the role of the social workers in developing appropriate intervention planning to support the people who are misusing substance. This is important to explore the role and responsibilities of the social workers in providing better care and service to all the people, who are misusing substances or becoming addicted towards substances. Reviewing the evidences and strategic planning to provide treatment to the people, who are misusing substances, are effective in this study to develop appropriate understanding about the role of the social workers in supporting the individuals across different social communities, who are misusing the drugs, alcohol and other substances. Through this report, it is possible to gather a vast range of information about the social intervention planning, where the social workers are playing an important role to enhance social growth and physical and mental development of the people, so that it is possible for them to improve their standard of living by providing them secured environment to live.

Search strategy

It is necessary for the researcher to develop proper tactics to search appropriate secondary sources of information, so that proper review of literature can be possible. In this regard, the review of the secondary sources such as books, business letters, new articles and journals are effective for drawing appropriate literature after gathering several numbers of literatures. The search engine is helpful to explore the articles, which are related to social work services and recovery from substance misuse. A review of the evidence, where the key words during the search such as role of social workers, then effects substance abuse among the people, the treatment and process of care required for the people who are misusing the substances are utilised which provide a scope to gather a vast range of knowledge and understanding about the research topic of the effectiveness of social work intervention with people that misuses substances. Hereby, the search engine and the search words are effective to gather vast range of literature sources as well as collect in depth information and knowledge about the role of the social carers in providing better care and support to all the individuals, who are abusing drugs. After collecting the information, it is possible for the researcher to improve understanding about the evidences of drug abuse as well as the role of the social workers in supporting the people with proper treatment and care who are abusing substances as the social care workers play an important role to enhance the standard of living of the individual in different social communities. Through this literature, it is possible to review the information of different authors about the effectiveness of social work intervention with people who misuse the substances, where the books, journals and articles are helpful to improve understanding about the evidence of substance abuse among the people and the intervention process of the social workers in supporting the people in the locality who are misusing the substances.

Reviewing the literatures

Misusing substances and role of the social workers

There are many forms of substances where people are addicted to consume the substances and the substances are such as alcohol, amphetamines, anabolic steroids, cannabis, caffeine, cocaine, ecstasy, opiates, nicotine and phencyclidine. As stated by Paylor, Measham and Asher (2012), there are many reasons for which the people becoming addicted to these substances such as out of interest and curiosity among the teenagers, wrong company, wrong friends groups, out of challenges as well as anxiety, depression, hyper sensitivity, stress, family issues, lack of bonding with the family members, social isolation, financial problems, lack of job satisfaction and poor chance to become establish in the professionals career. Social workers in this regard, follow the guidelines of NICE and Care Quality Commission, so that the care professionals can meet the quality of their treatment and care during providing service to the people who are misusing substances. The social care workers in this regard aim at providing better care and support to all the people, so that it is possible to create values for them and guide them with proper instruction to lead a normal life like others. Additionally, According to BASW (2014), the social care professionals play a crucial role in enhancing cooperation and collaboration with the patients, so that it is possible to develop friendly relationship where the people who are misusing the substances can cooperate with the care givers and share their views and past experiences in their lives.

According to Miller and Rollnick (2012), it is necessary to acknowledge the past living styles, experiences that they have gathered throughout their life span as well as their present mental and physical health situation to diagnose the people and identify the actual reasons of becoming addicted towards substance consumption. In addition to these, as per the findings, it has been clear that, the social care professionals also play crucial role in developing effective team as it is a teamwork where all the therapist, nurses and doctor’s need to cooperate to treat the patient. In this regard, as stated by Allnock and Hutchinson (2014), the social workers try to develop working in partnership practice by enhancing communication and collaboration at the workplace so that all the professionals can cooperate to treat the people with care and proper support where the primary aim of maximising the values for the people and improving their standard of living condition can be achieved well. Supporting the people with long term rehabilitation as well as integrated working with all the care professionals are also the role of the social care givers, where they try to develop collaborative working practice by cooperation with the care givers as well as the people who needs health care and support, so that it is possible to empower the patient and assess their feedback for developing appropriate intervention planning (Public Health England, 2013).

Impacts of misusing substances among the people

According to Karban (2011), there are serious effects of misusing substances on the physical and mental health of the human being. Having blackouts and memory loss are the coming effects among the people who are is using substances, where they forgot about their past lives and act abnormally while communicating with others. Mood swings, irritability and sadness are other serious impacts of substance abuse where the people are suffering from high stress, depression and anxiety. Anxiety control cannot be possible from the people who are becoming addicted towards substance consumption. In addition to this, as opined by Galvani, and Allnock (2014), physical problems, mental health issues are the symptoms of such drug abuse which need proper intervention and support from the social workers. Social isolation is another impact of such people, who are addicted towards substance consumption, where they fail to interact with the society and fail to take active part in their daily living activities. As opined by Loughran, Hohman and Finnegan (2010), depression, loneliness and lack of normal behaviour are the symptoms for which some of the people try to attempt suicide and self-harm due to lack of maintaining their anxiety and behaviour. According to Galvani and Forrester (2009), hypersensitivity and lack of control over their anxiety and depression can lead the person towards death. Changing the behavioural aspects and the communicative way are other symptoms for which the relationship at home with the people who are misusing substances and other family members, friends and society is changing. Hereby, it is necessary for the social workers to develop proper international process so that they can support and provide proper treatment and quality care to the people, who are addicted towards substance consumption (Daddow, and Broome, 2010).

Necessities of intervention

As stated by Galvani, and Forrester (2011), it is necessary for the social care workers to develop proper intervention planning so that they can support the people who are misusing the substances and it is possible for the care givers to protect the with quality care and appropriate treatment and lead them towards a normal life like others. In this regard, evidence shows that, the social workers seek to support and motivate the people who need proper mental and physical health care so that they can overcome their problems of substance addition. According to Miller, and Rollnick (2012), improving the ability of the human being to function well among the people who are misusing substances is necessary which can be possible through social workers intervention in helping the people with proper treatment, counselling, mental health treatment and rehabilitation. Most of the body are affected for high consumption of substances and it needs proper diagnosis and care from the health and social care professionals. As stated by Stockings et al., (2016), it is hereby necessary for the social workers to intervene in the process and promote physical heath of the people, who are becoming addicted towards high consumption of substances. In addition to this, mental health can also be suffered, where the people cannot manage their anxiety, stress and depression and this leads to self-harm and attempt to suicide (Best and Laudet, n.d.).

Moreover, the people need proper mental support from the social workers for overcoming their problems of hypersensitivity, lack of active work, social isolation, mental depression, anxiety and stress which lead the people towards death. Additionally, loss or strained relationship with the partners, family members, children, friends and society is the reason for which the people, misusing substances, need social intervention planning so that it is possible for the social workers to develop proper intervention planning and provide proper treatment and support to develop strong relationship with the family members, friends and children as well as the partners of the people, where they can improve their wellbeing and concentrate on their relationship with others (Hutchinson, Galvani and Dance, 2013). As stated by Eack et al., (2015), it is worth noting that, supporting people to change their problem of substance consumption as well as improving confidence to the people and sociability to reduce pain, social isolation, loneliness, stress and depression are the reasons, for which the people who are misusing the consumption of substances need proper social intervention planning where the social workers play an important role to intervene and provide proper treatment and quality care to all the people for improving their standard of living.

Capabilities of the social workers to support the people, misusing substances

The capabilities of the social workers is one of the key aspects to support and help the people who are misusing substances and in this regard, as per the professional capabilities framework, the factors such as professionalism, values and ethics, diversity, rights and justice, knowledge, critical reflective and analysis, intervention and skills, context and organisations and professional leadership are necessary to treat the people, who are suffering from overusing the substances (Galvani, 2015). The personal and professional development of the social workers and their knowledge and skills are effective to diagnose the individuals and acknowledge their actual needs and preferences to develop effective intervention planning for the people who are consuming substabces at a higher rate (Hutchinson, Galvani and Dance, 2013). Apart from that, managing diversity is the skill of the social workers, through which the professionals try to treat all the people fairly irrespective of their culture, language, and value as well as physical and mental health condition. This improves the quality of care of the social professionals, who are trying to crate values for all the people, misusing the substances in their daily lives. Ethical principle of manging transparency and accountability as well as developing fair treatment are also contributing factors to develop proper intervention planning through which the social care workers can take care of the people who are suffering from the addiction of substance consumption (NICE, 2010).

Professional leadership in this regard is necessary to be developed among all the social care workers, so that it is possible for the social workers to improve their capabilities for leading the people towards normal life and taking the responsibility for improving learning and development through supervision, monitoring, mentoring, teaching, assessing an leadership and management (Galvani, 2015). This is important to improve the knowledge and capabilities of other social workers also by sharing their experience and arranging group discussion for developing appropriate care and intervention planning for the benefits of the people who are suffering from the issues of high consumption of substances. In addition to these, the capabilities to improve analysis and critical reflection is also necessary for the social workers to treat the people, who consume high substances in their daily lives for which they are suffering from other consequences such as stress, depression, self-harm, rude behaviour, anxiety and suicidal attempts (Hutchinson, Galvani and Dance, 2013). It is important role of the social care professionals to analyse the patient case after proper assessment and diagnosis so that they can interact with all the patients and understand tehri physical and mental health condition (NICE, 2010).

Strategies of the social workers in helping the people, misusing substances

Improving engagement is one of the crucial roles of the social care professionals, where they try to build strong relationship with the people, so that the addicted person can rely on the care givers and share their experience about their treatment, past experience, present condition, physical and mental health condition. Without this information, it is not possible for the social care givers to develop intervention planning and thus it is necessary to engage with the people for identifying the reason of becoming addicted towards substance consumption, so that the primary duty of the social care professionals to provide better care and support to the people can be achieved (Galvani, 2015). Supporting the change among the people is also another role where the social care professionals aim at enhancing cooperation and communication for better care. Empowering the people in the intervention planning is necessary to manage the people with care and support the people to share their needs and preferences in their lives. Personalise intervention planning need to be developed by the social care workers and in this regard, the care givers try to empower all the people to meet their preferences and expectations. Apart from that, as stated by Eack et al., (2015), it is necessary for the social care givers to improve transparency and accountability, where the people can access the service and the care professionals can provide support and quality care fairly to all the people, who need physical and mental health treatment and support to overcome their addiction of substances.

In this regard, for improving engagement the social care professionals try to cooperate and arrange counselling sessions with the family members of the patient as well as friends and colleagues, so that it is possible to identify the reason of such addiction of consuming substances, the way of motivating the people with care and supporting and encouraging their daily activities such that, the social care professionals can treat the people. Accepting behavioural changes, keeping patient during conversation with the patient, managing mood swings and anxiety of the patients and positive attitude and interaction are primary necessary capabilities of the social workers to communicate with the people and improve trust and loyalty among them (Galvani, 2015). Providing supervision and appropriate leadership and management are also effective for the social workers where the care givers aim at providing appropriate physical and mental health treatment as well as assessment and intervention planning through counselling and rehabilitation, so that the people can overcome their problems of substance consumption (Galvani, 2015).

In addition to these, the social care professionals also focus on arranging educational program for social development through which they try to promote healthy living and training for improving awareness among the people about the consequences of substance misuse. Cognitive behavioural intervention is another role of the social care professionals through which they try to give the family members the opportunity to talk with the addicted person about their problems and provide relevant information for improving attitude and behaviour of the addicted person, exploring social support in living in the social communities and motivating the person with proper care and support (Galvani, 2015). Hereby, the roles and responsibilities of the social workers include managing values, ethics and attitudes, responding the people misusing substances, raising basic awareness of alcohol and drugs, proper assessment and diagnosis, supervision and monitoring, cognitive behavioural intervention, risk management and intervention planning and improving engagement and cooperation with the family members as well as motivating the people and supporting their changes to overcome their recent phase of over consumption of substances so that they can lead a normal life like others in the social communities (Galvani, 2015).

Effectiveness of social work intervention planning with the people, misusing substances

As stated by Eack et al., (2015), the social care workers play an important role to create values for the people by delivering proper care and support to all the individuals who are suffering from substances addition. It is the responsibility of the social workers to promote social development and provide suitable environment to all the people, who are misusing substances. Through providing proper treatment and care, the social care can provide safe environment where the treatment process, mental health improvement, counselling and rehabilitation provide a scope to the people to lead normal lives like others by overcoming the issue of misusing substabces in their daily life. Constant support and care are effective for the people to overcome their depression and substance addiction and they can get proper support to share their experience. According to Eack et al., (2015), the motivational speech and counselling session of the social workers also provide an opportunity to the person to understand the consequences of substance abuse and they try to cooperate with the people through different activities for better future. Through the intervention planning of the social workers, the people can lead a normal life and improve their standard of living in future. Additionally, the people can take active part in their society and resolve the issue of social isolation due to substance misuse. Moreover, the people can improve their mental and physical health condition as well as they can enhance their wellbeing by taking active part in their daily activities. The rehabilitation and involvement with the daily activities in the care home and rehabilitation centre also provide an opportunity to the people to overcome the issue of substance misuse and provide the proper information about the ways to lead a normal life for future (Galvani, 2015).

According to Eack et al., (2015), for developing proper intervention planning, the social workers try to improve their knowledge and skill so that they can promote safety and proper treatment for the people, who are suffering from misusing substances in the social communities. Proper diagnosis and intervention planning need to be developed, where the social care workers try to cooperate and share their experience to develop the care plan for the people with proper counselling session, rehabilitation, daily activities like exercise, providing motivational speech as well as efficient physical and mental health treatment so that the people can overcome their problems and lead a normal life like others. As suggested by Miller, and Rollnick (2012), through the intervention, it is possible to assess the patient and provide medical care and treatment for improving their physical and mental health condition. The counselling is another important strategy of the social care intervention through which the social workers try to provide motivational speech as well as discuss over the problems in their past and present lives which helps the social workers to provide guidance and suggestions to the people for leading the life properly. Through the counselling session, the people, misusing substances, can share their experience with the social workers, where the social care professionals can acknowledge the actual needs and personal preferences of the people and they try developing proper intervention planning by empowering the people in the care planning (Galvani, 2015).

Through the rehabilitation centres and care home, the social workers also cooperate with the people on a daily basis and monitor their progress with proper time interval. Additionally, daily exercise at the rehabilitation centre, daily activities like playing and singing, providing good food and beverages and involving in entertainment program with the people will support them to overcome their problems and experiences in their past lives and lead a normal life like others. Moreover, according to Miller, and Rollnick (2012), the social work intervention planning provides a scope to the people to think in a positive way and improve their cooperation with the social workers to respond their service and contribute their 100% on overcoming the problem of substance addiction. Proper engagement, building relationship, love and trust can be possible to build up with proper cooperation and collaboration between the people, misusing substances and the social workers, where the aim of the social care professionals to create values for the people who are misusing substabces and lead them towards a normal life with physical and mental health improvement can be achieved successfully (Galvani, 2015).

Summary of key findings

Social work is an effective work to support the people who needs proper care and treatment to improve their standard of living in future and in this regard, the role of the social workers is to give proper support and provide better care and treatment to all the people who are misusing substabces. It can be concluded that, the intervention planning of the social care workers is necessary to support the people with proper treatment and quality care by implementing the policies and practice in the health and social care so that they can overcome their addiction and stop misusing substances for their better future. The social worker seeks to understand the person’s environment and in wider context, the past and present condition of the people so that it is possible for the social workers to acknowledge the condition of the individuals and identify the reasons of such misuse substabces. The social workers work every day with diversity of ethnicity, age group, cultural preferences and mental abilities, where it is a difficult work for the workers to understand the patient’s condition, cooperate with them and acknowledge their mental and physical health.

The social workers work with complexity, family members, friends, communities, and couples with different health and social care needs. The work is in arrange of people’s homes, community-based offices hospitals prisons, substance misuse services schools and care homes where multi-disciplinary work needs to be managed by the social care workers, which is necessary for all the care givers to do multi-tasking to support all the people misusing substabces. It is important for all the social care givers to diagnose the people and understand the actual health and social care needs, so that proper intervention planning can be developed. In addition to these, it is the primary aim of the social workers to develop person centred care rather than expert led service, so that the care givers can develop proper intervention planning with the help of the patient, where they can empower the people in developing the care plan. This is important for the patient to build trust and loyalty among the care givers which in turn improves the outcome of the intervention planning.

Reference List

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