Population and Setting
Since this paper aims at determining whether it is possible to increase the likelihood of actively using addicts going into treatment after harm reduction programs are introduced to special medical centers, it is necessary to define the research population and setting. To begin with, the chosen population of this study is people with substance abuse disorder. Active substance abusers are those persons who find it difficult or have no strong desire to quit their addictions, which are usually drug ones (Kulikowski & Linder, 2018). Such patients require the robust support of their families, but not everyone has an opportunity to get it.
Increasing pressure from judgmental society makes it more challenging for substance abusers to see the benefits of being in recovery (Moreira et al., 2019). What is more, the severe threats of careless drug use, including unsanitary conditions, shared needles, diseases, or overdose, make these people more vulnerable and enhance the necessity of addressing the overall issue. Since addiction is a rather serious chronic condition that is impossible to overcome by merely stopping using drugs, patients require careful observation and professional medical help and support (Palumbo, 2019). As mentioned above, harm reduction programs implemented in treatment centers provide this opportunity and are likely to increase actively using addicts’ chances of successful recovery.
The setting for this qualitative study is an inpatient, long-term substance abuse treatment center. Due to a number of characteristics, such a place is a perfect setting for gathering information for answering the research question. First of all, in these centers, drug treatment and harm reduction programs typically take four to six months or even longer, which provides patients with enough time to gradually challenge and change themselves (Moreira et al., 2019). Second, medical workers ensure structured and intensive treatment or offer additional harm reduction supplies, which helps either treat addiction or reduce the likelihood of getting a disease or overdose (Palumbo, 2019).
Third, in such centers, addicted persons are able to receive significant support and make sure that they are not rejected by the whole society (Dubois, 2017). At the beginning of their visits, they can get safer smoking kits or needles, and then they may want to sustain abstinence in order to complete their rehabilitation stay and return to their normal life. Finally, in such centers, there are many actively using addicts who only come because of injection sites or needle exchange programs. Their perception of such places and programs, as well as consideration of going into treatment, is the data needed for this research.
Sample
When conducting research studies with certain populations under investigation, it is essential to select a representative sample. This necessity arises from the researchers’ inability to interview, test, or observe all the individuals in a chosen population. Determining its smaller subset allows narrowing the group of people to test and get clear and relevant data without spending extra time (Fain, 2017). Consequently, the sample’s primary purpose is to make it possible for researchers to conduct their study on population representatives and use the results to draw particular conclusions applicable to the entire population.
This process of selecting individuals for a study may be of two types, namely, probability and nonprobability, and they, in turn, are divided into several more kinds (Fain, 2017). For this specific qualitative research, it is probably better to use the purposive nonprobability type of sample. Selecting and analyzing certain cases that appear to be the most appropriate representatives will allow gathering necessary data while also ensuring that biases are unlikely.
References
Dubois, T. M. (Ed.). (2017). Harm reduction. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 28(1), 42. Web.
Fain, J. A. (2017). Reading, understanding, and applying nursing research. F.A. Davis Company.
Kulikowski, J., & Linder, E. (2018). Making the case for harm reduction programs for injection drug users. Nursing, 48(6), 46-51. Web.
Moreira, C. R., Soares, C. B., Campos, C. M. S., & Laranjo, T. H. M. (2019). Harm reduction: Trends being disputed in health policies. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 72(3), 312-320. Web.
Palumbo, R. (2019). A call to action: Defining the acute care nurse’s role in harm reduction for persons with substance use disorder. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 30(4), 236-237. Web.