Response to a Nationally Identified Health Objective - Essay Example

? Response to a Nationally Identified Health Objective Response to a Nationally Identified Health Objective IntroductionSubstance abuse can be described as the misuse of mood-altering substances, and it is one of the most common and costly problems in society. Admittedly, people from all walks of life fall prey to substance abuse due to various reasons ranging from peer pressure, availability, and the appeal of the physical objects. Abused substances vary, but can be broadly divided into legal and illegal categories. The legal ones include alcohol, tobacco, steroids, and caffeine. The illegal ones range from marijuana, cocaine, mescaline, MDA and so on. According to Healthy People 2000 Final Review (CDS), nearly 100,000 people in the U.S die due to alcohol consumption. According to the report, the Healthy People 2000 project fell short of meeting the targets. For example, in areas like drug related deaths, the drug abuse related emergency visits, marijuana use among 12 to 17 year olds, occasional marijuana use, and regular marijuana use, there was practically a rise. Thus, it becomes evident that despite increased drug policies and programs, substance abuse has been rising, especially among young adults. The issue & federal, state, and local agencies to address it The issue to be handled in this case is substance abuse. The area selected is Harris County. The population selected is young adults of both genders. In fact, there are a large number of organizations dealing with the management of substance abuse. First of all, there is the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) which works in collaboration with states and communities in order to develop sophisticated prevention programs. In addition, there is the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. With financial support from the U.S Department of Education, it helps all higher education institutes to address alcohol and other drug abuse problems. The third important agency is Working Partners for an Alcohol and Drug-Free Workplace. This is a U.S Department of Labor initiative, which works to make people aware about the bad effects of drug and alcohol. Also, it helps in creating drug-free workplace programs. Another important initiative in this direction is the SAMHSA’s Prevention Online Program. It has some online tools which help in the assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of various drug abuse programs. Here, it is necessary to mention the role of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These agencies offer financial grants to those coalitions which work against any form of substance abuse. Lastly, there is the National Anti-drug Media Campaign which focuses on educating the public about substance abuse through media publications of all forms. There are certain other agencies which offer treatment to the ones addicted to substances. One is Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the other is SAMHSA’s Partner’s For Recovery. Also, there are various agencies engaged in further research and development in handling substance abuse. Some of them are National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Similarly, various agencies are there in the U.S to see that substance abuse laws are enforced properly. One of them is the Office of National Drug Control Policy which works to establish policies, procedures, and objectives for the drug control programs of the nation. The Drug Enforcement Administration helps to enforce the controlled substance laws and regulations. Thirdly, the Office of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is working to reduce substance abuse among delinquents. Furthermore, there are some agencies like Community Capacity Development Office, National Guard Bureau Counteracting Office, and International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Demand Reduction Program. Models and systems to analyze the issue In order to collect data related to the issue, it is possible to use a number of federal registries. One of them is the SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence Based Programs and Practices. Using this registry, it is possible to identify various interventions. The registry provides their names, description and rates evidences. Similarly, there is the OJJDP Model Programs Guide which is intended to offer various youth oriented programs. Also, it is possible to see their description and evidence. Thirdly, there is the Exemplary and Promising Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools Programs Sponsored by the U.S Department of Education. This is a good repository of various educational programs related to substance abuse. In the same line, there is the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. It works to offer recommendations related to counseling in clinical settings in order to prevent the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other substances. Following this, there is the Guide to Community Prevention Services as sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a good source of generic programs and policies which are meant to prevent and reduce the use of tobacco and alcohol. Epidemiologic surveillance systems This new suggested program will have a number of epidemiological surveillance systems to monitor the substance abuse issue in the area. They will vary from individual interviews of the drug abusers, the ones who are recovering from the issue, and health care providers. Moreover, the officers of law enforcement agencies will be making regular statements about the substance abuse trends in the area. Along with these qualitative data, there will be quantitative data collected through surveys and registries. Surveys will be conducted on a regular basis in the area to identify any increase or decrease in the number of substance abusers. Moreover, there will be a registry which will collect data on the number of drug abusers arranged in various groups on the basis of gender, age, economic and social background, education, and existence of other health conditions. So, the qualitative data and quantitative data will be compared to ensure accuracy of information. In fact, some such qualitative epidemiological methods are seen in the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services’ OSAM Network. One of them is focus group interviews of the active and recovering drug abusers. In addition, there will be individual qualitative interviews of all those who are identified with drug abuse problem, the recovering drug abusers, and the treatment providers. Furthermore, law enforcement officials will be giving epidemiologic description of local substance abuse cases and trends even six months. In order to identify the accuracy of information, each individual’s experience and knowledge with various drugs are taken into account. Risk assessment and trends in disease and health The work by Daniulaityte, Siegal, Carlson, Kenne, Starrm and DeCamp (n. d.) identifies the benefits of using the combination of qualitative and quantitative surveillance in prevention programs. For example, it is found that since June 2001, the OSAM Network started getting reports of MDMA/Ecstasy abuse outside the traditional areas. The mere fact is that the use of traditional surveys would not have revealed this trend. Similarly, during 2003, the OSAM Network started getting information about the rising use of powdered cocaine even before treatment providers and surveys could identify the trend (Daniulaityte et al). And it was also revealed early through the qualitative data that high school students are the main users of the same. It was also possible to successfully identify the reasons for the trend. They were rising availability, reduced prices, and rising social acceptability. In this case, the suggested model will be a community logic model. This model will not stick to the plans proposed by other states or agencies. Instead, first it will collect data about the substance abuse pattern in the area. Thereafter, the underlying reasons will be dug out. In the given case, as Boys, Marsden and Strang (2000) point out, the reasons behind the increasing use of drug and alcohol are easy access to drugs and alcohol, low enforcement of laws, easy social access to alcohol, low perceived adverse effects of alcohol, social norms accepting youth drinking, promotion of alcohol and drugs by media like television and movies, low prices of alcohol, and various other factors like family issues. Here, the suggested strategies will vary from retailer education, strict implementation of laws, education for parents and caretakers, education programs for youth, education for community members, control over advertisement, and treatment of the addicted ones. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Prevention Dollars and Cents: A Cost-Benefit Analysis, it is possible to considerably reduce the abuse of prescribed drugs through giving education to retailers. Similarly, Toumbourou, Rowland, Lee, Hemphill, Marshall and Dimovski (2003) write that in Victoria, parental education has proved highly useful in reducing substance abuse in children. An example is the Triple P Positive Parenting Progarm which proved useful in Australia. Furthermore, the treatment for the addicted ones will adopt various approaches including medication, behavioral approaches, and in necessary cases it will work in collaboration with the criminal justice system. An example is the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Peden. This Substance Abuse Treatment Facility is a 283 bed program in connection with the Harris County Criminal Courts. Similarly, there will be such programs for juvenile delinquents and females. It is pointed out by the National Institute on drug Abuse that medications are useful in reducing withdrawal symptoms, and reestablish normal brain function (NIDA, Drug Facts, 2009). Similarly, behavioral therapies include ‘cognitive-behavioral therapy, multidimensional family therapy, motivational interviewing, and motivational incentives’, which are all proved useful in substance abuse treatment (Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment, 2009). These steps will help Harris County meet the goals of Healthy People 2000. References Boys, A., Marsden, J & Strang, J. (2000). Understanding reasons for drug use amongst young people: a functional perspective. Oxford Journals. Retrieved from http://her.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/4/457.full Daniulaityte, R., Siegal, H. A., Carlson, R. G., Kenne, D. R., Starr, S & DeCamp, B. (n. d.). Qualitative epidemiologic methods can improve local prevention programming among adolescents. Retrieved from http://olc.edu/~jolson/socialwork/MethodsIII/Qualitative%20methods%20in%20prevention.pdf Evaluation Report. Retrieved from http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/attachments/373_ResearchReport_No6.pdf Healthy People 2000 Final Review. CDS. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hp2000/hp2k01.pdf NIDA. (2009). Drug Facts: Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction NIDA. (n. d.). Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research Based Guide. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment Toumbourou, J. W., Rowland, B., Lee, B., Hemphill, S., Marshall, J & Dimovski, M. (2003). Parent education in the prevention of drug-related harm. Prevention Research U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Prevention Dollars and Cents: A Cost-Benefit Analysis. Retrieved from http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/SMA07-4298/SMA07-4298.pdf Read More