In the first part of this assignment, the health problem of drug addiction was considered among teens and the most vulnerable group was established. Consequently, academic literature has been reviewed regarding evidence-based interventions and the most effective methods were identified. Finally, an appropriate health promotion framework was chosen for the future proposal. This paper will build on the ideas from the previous part, propose a specific plan for a health promotion program, detail the intended outcomes and suggest appropriate evaluation criteria for the outcomes.
Firstly, a formal rehabilitation establishment should be organized. The resources should be raised via promotional campaigns and additional government funding in the local community where there is high number of adolescent drug abuse cases. Simultaneously, information should be gathered by a combination of social workers, local community gatherings and online forms about all the teenagers that suffer from various drug addictions. When the amount of donations reaches an appropriate level, a large facility should be rented and refurnished for the purposes of a rehabilitation clinic. A number of professionals specialising in adolescent drug addiction, including doctors and nurses, should be hired from the local community or alternatively from the neighboring states using the same donation money. Kumar et al. highlight that the most efficient way to deal with drug addiction is the combination of “addiction treatment medicines with behavioral therapy,” thus, the professionals should include therapy counselors and medicine specialists (2019, 38). Furthermore, the authors emphasize that “any attempt to stop using drugs will leave drug abusers vulnerable to powerful symptoms of withdrawal, which can put their recovery and their health in jeopardy” (Kumar et al, 2019, 38). Hence, the availability of a nurse in an advanced role that would supervise a number of youngsters throughout their period of withdrawal is necessary. Moreover, Hovhannisyan et al. mention Very Integrated Program (VIP) which identifies other unhealthy habits, such as smoking and drinking, which should be assessed in parallel with drug addiction. Finally, according to Wamsley et al., all the teenagers that attend the program should be categorized as those at risk of relapse and labelled with substance use disorder (SUD) (2018).
Ultimately, the timeline for this health promotion program implementation is the following:
- Research, development, and organization of fundraising campaign (one-two months)
- Conduction of fundraising campaign and raise of money (three-four months)
- Rent and refurbishment of rehabilitation clinic facility (four-six months)
- Total time for implementation of the program: ~ one year
- Evaluation of results achieved by each individual (monthly)
- Evaluation of results achieved by the program (annually)
With respect to SMART goals, the implementation of a new health promotion program is achievable in one academic year. Furthermore, considering the natural decline in the adolescent drug use mentioned in the first part of this assignment, a realistic goal would be to reduce the number of drug addiction cases in teenagers by 10-15% in the span of five years. Unfortunately, it is less realistic to influence such risk factors as poor supervision and general background problem that youngsters struggling with drug addiction may encounter but it is certainly realistic to improve teens’ awareness of drug use and its consequences.
With regard to the evaluation procedures, the majority of the information gathered would be the statistical data regarding the physical and mental well-being of the current and ex-patients as well as the duration of periods of abstinence. As they would be returning back to their potentially unhealthy environments after the program, it is paramount to ensure that the risk of a relapse is minimum. Based on those observation, the success rate of the program as well as the reduction in the number of drug addiction cases in teenagers can be assessed, evaluated, and estimated.
In conclusion, the biggest barrier to the implementation of the program would be potential inability to raise the required funds in which case the program would be cut down or abandoned altogether. In the case of budget reduction, a small office space can be rented instead of a larger facility with the number of nurses and specialists cut to a necessary minimum.
References
Hovhannisyan, K., Adami, J., Wikström, M., and Tønnesen, H. (2018). Very Integrated Program (VIP): Smoking and other lifestyles, co-morbidity and quality of life in patients undertaking treatment for alcohol and drug addiction in Sweden. Research and Best Practice, 8(1), pp. 14-19. Web.
Kumar, A., Dangi, I., & Pawar, R. S. (2019). Drug addiction: A big challenge for youth and children. International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 4(1), 35-40. Web.
Wamsley, M., Satterfield, J. M., Curtis, A., Lundgren, L., and Satre, D. D. (2018). Alcohol and drug screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) training and implementation: Perspectives from 4 health professions. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 12(4), 262-272. Web.