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Substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation programmes in South Africa : implications for social policy.

THIS STUDY EXAMINES SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN SOUTH AFRICA WHICH POSES
MAJOR CHALLENGES IN THE AREAS OF ASSESSMENT, TREATMENT,
REHABILITATION AND AFTER-CARE. THIS HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON A
NUMBER OF POLICIES DEALING DIRECTLY WITH RESOURCES, BUDGETS,
NORMS AND STANDARDS OF / FOR SERVICE DELIVERY.
THIS STUDY FOCUSSES ON THE AGENCIES AND THE INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE
BOTH ARE CRUCIAL IN THE INTERVENTION, PLANNING OF TREATMENT AND
REHABILITATION PROGRAMMES AS WELL AS IMPLEMENTING POLICY.
THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATED THE TYPES OF TREATMENT AVAILABLE,
THE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM, ITS FUNCTIONS, AREAS OF NEED AND
CONCERNS REGARDING THE CURRENT POLICIES. THE ASSESSMENT OF THE
SERVICE DELIVERY ORGANISATIONS REVEALED, DEDICATION BUT ALSO A
NUMBER OF ISSUES THAT NEEDED TO BE DEBATED UPON. FEW AGENCIES
CHANGED OR USED MORE UP TO DATE INTERVENTION MODELS, WHICH
GIVES THE CLIENT FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND ALLOWED HIM/HER TO BE THE
MAJOR CHANGE AGENT IN HISIHER BEHAVIOUR CHANGES. A LACK OF
KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE LEADS
TO INAPPROPRIATE TREATMENT PLANS WHICH IN MANY INSTANCES LEADS
TO THE RELAPSE RATES REMAINING HIGH.
A STUDY OF THE MULTI DISCIPLINARY AND INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS
OF GOVERNMENTAL, NON-GOVERNMENTAL AND PRIVATE REHABILITATION
AND TREATMENT CENTRES WAS CONDUCTED TO ASSESS THEIR
KNOWLEDGE BASE AND ISSUES THEY FACED. AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE THE
DUAL DIAGNOSED CLIENTS, WHO HAVE FALLEN THROUGH THE NET BECAUSE OF LACK OF TRAINING THEORY AND PRACTICE 0N THE PART OF
THE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM.
THE STUDY REVEALED THAT THE GAP BETWEEN POLICY AND PRACTICE
NEEDS TO BE MORE INTEGRATED TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED DRUG FREE
INDIVIDUALS. AGENCIES DO NOT HAVE THE TIME OR THE ENERGY TO DEAL
WITH AND IMPLEMENT NEW AND OTHER POLICY CHANGES. THIS RESULTS
BECAUSE OF OVERLOAD, LACK OF FUNDS AND LACK OF HUMAN
RESOURCES.
THROUGH THE LITERATURE STUDY A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME FOR
TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION IS RESEARCHED TO MEET THE UNIQUE
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OF THE SUBSTANCE ABUSER AND ALSO THE TEAM
/INDIVIDUALS WHO PLAN THE TREATMENT.
A LARGE NUMBER OF MODELS ARE DISCUSSED SO THAT THE PLANNING
TEAM CAN CHOOSE APPROPRIATE ONES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF CLIENTS.
ANOTHER AREA OF ASSESSMENT WAS THE INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS
OPINIONS ON TREATMENT TIME FRAMES AND TREATMENT STRATEGIES.
THIS THESIS RESEARCHED EVERY COMPONENT TREATMENT PROGRAMMES
AND STRATEGIES AND SHOULD BE USED AS A REFERENCE AND TRAINING
GUIDE BY ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE FIELD OF
SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN SOUTH AFRICA AND GLOBALLY.
OF SPECIAL EMPHASIS WOULD BE THE UNDERSTANDING OF DUAL
DIAGNOSIS AND THE PROVISION OF A SUITABLE TREATMENT PROGRAMME.
THE INVESTIGATION INTO SOCIAL POLICIES PROVIDES FOR A MORE
COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN AGENCIES AND GOVERNMENT TO
MEET THE NEEDS FO SUBSTANCE ABUSERS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND WORLD
WIDE. / Thesis (Ph.D)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/5455
Date January 2005
CreatorsHoosen, Suheima.
ContributorsMantzaris, Evangelos Anastasios.
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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