Substance abuse is a relapsing chronic illness. In 2014, an estimated 27 million persons reported using illicit drugs in the United States (SAMHSA, 2014). Substance abuse negatively impacts societies, productivity, healthcare costs and families. Families play an important role in relapse prevention and sobriety. With adequate family support, substance abuse positively responds to treatment. Many individuals (about 66 million Americans) play the role as an informal caregiver for a relative with chronic illnesses such as substance abuse but few studies exist on the caregiving experiences. What we know about the family caregiving experience is restricted to data from quantitative studies which do not explain the complexities and competing challenges that exist. Different approaches are thereby needed to deepen our understanding of the family caregiver burden of living with a relative with substance abuse problems. Such studies will enable us to understand the original experience and moment of learning of a relative’s substance abuse problems, decision making and support that follows thereafter. This moment calls for major decision making and encounter with treatment services. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of caregivers of relatives with alcohol and opiate dependence. This study utilized Max van Manen’s (2014) Phenomenology of Practice. Ten participants (N=10) were recruited for this study. Van Manen’s guided existential inquiry was used in the analysis of experiential material collected through interviews. Four main themes emerged from the data: (1) Being in the moment: the extension of the self; (2) The dawn of reality: the being of acceptance; (3) Deciding in the moment: the healthcare experience; (4) Uncertainties and struggle: a lifelong process. These themes described how the participants: experienced, accepted and processed a relative’s substance abuse problem, encountered treatment services and experienced the uncertainties and struggles involved in caring for a relative with substance abuse problems. Two main findings emerged from these themes; the impact of guilt and stigma on seeking care and the need to see addiction as a disease instead of as a moral character failure. This calls for coalitions with stakeholders to decrease stigma, enhance acceptance process and increase access to treatment.

Chemical substance abuse is a major problem affecting young people of all races, in particular teenagers, not only in South Africa but globally as well. Although this phenomenon continues to be a serious condition that impacts on teenagers’ growth, learning and relationships with their parents, there is limited knowledge-based research on the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substances. A qualitative research approach was employed to explore, describe and contextualize the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substances in Ramotse, Hammanskraal in Gauteng Province. The researcher used purposive and snowball sampling methods to draw the sample. Data was collected through the semi-structured interviews and analysed using Tesch’s eight steps (Creswell, 2009). Data was verified against four criteria developed by Guba and Lincoln’s model to test the trustworthiness of a qualitative research study. The ethical considerations adhered to throughout this study were informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, debriefing of participants and management of information. The findings confirm that there is lack of support for parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substance. From the findings, recommendations for policy, education, practice and future research were made. The results were disseminated by means of a written research report to management of SANCA and the participants. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Work)

The aim of this study is to demonstrate how the complementary concepts of stability and change could manifest during the therapeutic process, specifically with clients showing the symptom of dependency. The study is guided by a literature study on systems/cybernetic theory with a focus on the cybernetic complementarity of stability and change. A brief description is provided of the symptom of dependency from a more traditional lineal perspective as well as a non-lineal (systemic) perspective. A single case study is utilized to describe how both stability and change could manifest in the therapeutic process. From this description the relevance and usefulness of addressing both stability and change during the therapeutic process emerge and are outlined. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Science Mental Health)

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The purpose of the present study was to gather further external validity evidence towards the validity argument for an instrument designed to measure individual and contextual factors associated with adolescent substance use in low socio-economic status communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. The South African Substance Use Contextual Risk Instrument (SASUCRI) measures adolescents' subjective experiences of their own psycho-social and their communities' functioning. The present study uses secondary data analysis in order to further evaluate its external validity. Both content and structural evidence for the instrument has been gathered in the larger study in which the present study is located. Validity theory was used as the theoretical framework for the gathering of the different types of evidence in support of the validity argument for this instrument. The study employed non-probability purposive sampling to select schools from three education districts from which twenty-six schools were selected where the sample total was N=1959. English and Afrikaans versions of the instrument were administered to English- and Afrikaans home language, school-going adolescents, aged 12 to 21 years. All ethical standards were maintained throughout the research process. External evidence procedures were conducted using Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) to evaluate the extent to which the instrument could discriminate between substance using and non-using adolescents. The DFA revealed that nine SASUCRI sub-scales totals can act as significant predictors to substance use among adolescents based on the predictive validity of sub-scales.

Health communication has gained worldwide recognition as one of the most effective methods for tackling global health challenges; a conclusion that is supported by a range of studies showing generally positive results. Literature in the field has tended to focus on one of two perspectives: either individual behaviour change or a cultural/critical approach. This dissertation, which falls into the latter category, extends previous work on health communication and culture into a new context, namely Saudi Arabia. The thesis is motivated by two main research questions. First, how has culture influenced health communication in Saudi Arabia specifically in initiatives against illicit drug use and alcohol abuse? Second, how has this communication developed? At the heart of this study is the role of Saudi culture in health communication in an increasingly interdependent and connected world. The dissertation makes use of mixed qualitative data collection methods. Principally, it utilised semi-structured interviews with key officials and focus groups with young Saudis and health promoters in Saudi Arabia as well as attendance at and observation of health-communication events and permanent exhibitions as a subordinate method. The study reveals promising findings supporting the growing scholarly interest in the cultural dimension of health communication. It concludes that the key influence of the Saudi culture on health communication against substance abuse is Islamic beliefs about health, in particular those about substance abuse. These beliefs created a rejection of illicit drug abuse in Saudi society, thereby shaping a supportive environment for promotion activities against risky health behaviour. In addition, Islamic influence inspired the related regulations and laws in the kingdom. Islamic and local influences exert a powerful influence on the practical side of health communication in Saudi Arabia, including the content of messages, the appeal used to attract the specific audience, and the communication channels used to promote the campaigns. The study engages with four concepts constituting the Islamic model of health and illicit drug abuse: prohibition (haram), promotion (Da’wah), repentance and inclusiveness (Tawbah), and treatment and rehabilitation (Elaj). The study also examines controversial issues about health communication in the country, such as the predominance of top-down communication, the absence of participatory communication and cultural diversity. In short, a lack of innovation and creativity in delivering health communication messages. The study illustrates the major role the Saudi government has played in communicating health and substance abuse since the 1980s, when officials realised the need to modernise the means of communicating health and drug issues from mosque-based only to include modern methods such as televised campaigns, school-based programmes and hospital-based health education. Since then, government-led health communication initiatives have been well established in the kingdom. The dissertation is able to demonstrate a critical understanding of the reality of health communication against substance abuse in Saudi Arabia and make a range of recommendations to improve the efficacy of current policies and suggest new avenues for future research.

Perinatal complications resulting from either alcohol or drug abuse include a high incidence of stillbirths, fetal distress, asphyxia, prematurity, low birth weight, pneumonia, congenital malformations, cerebral infarction, and an increased risk to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to determine the extent environmental problems such as family history of substance abuse, loneliness and lack of support contribute to high levels of depression for substance abusing women seeking recovery in residential treatment facilities.

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that cause resistance in older adults to participation in substance abuse treatment programs.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / See the attached abstract below