Program on Reduction of Drug Abuse among Indigenous Australians - Literature review Example

Evaluating and reporting: Program on Reduction of Drug Abuse among Indigenous Australians Name of student: Date: The indigenous populations in Australia have a high prevalence of substance abuse compared to other Australians. The higher level of substance abuse can be attributed to ineffective policies, ineffective treatment modules and reduced level of health literacy (National Drug Strategy, 2015). Based on this finding, the previous assignment developed a program to manipulate these factors with a view to reducing the prevalence and incidence of substance abuse among the indigenous Australians. The program has three domains namely strengthening substance abuse control policies, improving the treatment regimens, and improving the level of health literacy. The substance abuse control policies will be strengthened by strengthening law enforcement through problem oriented policing and community policing. Another proposal by the program is to change the focus of law enforcement from incarceration to rehabilitation. Additionally, the program recommends the introduction of policies dictating substance abuse education in all schools. On the second domain, improving the treatment regimens, the program proposes the use of family-based treatment practices, targeted assessment, and treatment on adolescent, rehabilitation of offenders, and provision of community-based support systems. Finally, the improvement of health literacy level will be achieved through community-based health promotion and education campaigns. This paper seeks to conduct an evaluation of the process, outcome, and the impact of the proposed program assuming that it is ongoing. The paper will utilize the principles of evaluation and data collection as enshrined in various scholarly articles to perform a systematic assessment of the various process, impact, and outcome indicators. Evaluation of the Program’s Process Process evaluation refers to the assessment of all aspects of the planning and implementing the program. The program is already ongoing, and thus, the most appropriate type of evaluation is the formative evaluation. Formative evaluation has proved to be an effective method for checking whether the program is feasible, appropriate and acceptable during and before the implementation phase (Posavac, 2015). To evaluate whether the program is acceptable, will seek to get feedback from particular stakeholders. The health and social workers are the primary implementers of the treatment regimens and improving the health literacy levels. In this context, after presenting the strategies to them, the evaluation process will involve asking them to provide their views on the proposed strategies. The local authorities, policy makers and the community will also be requested to air their views and perceptions on community policing, problem-oriented policing, community-based support systems, and the law enforcement strategies. The evaluation of acceptability will also involve direct and indirect supervision to determine whether the stakeholder has embraced the proposed strategies. The evaluation will be conducted by counting the number health education and promotion campaigns implemented since the program was commenced. The evaluation of acceptability will also involve counting the number of laws regarding control of drug abuse and the number of cases managed using the proposed treatment regimen. Evaluating whether the program is appropriate will involve checking whether the concepts of the proposed program concur with the current professional standards of practice. According to Fowlers (2011), all healthcare interventions must abide by the legal and ethical principles of health practice. In this context, the evaluation of appropriateness will involve checking whether the proposed strategies meet the bioethical principles of justice, autonomy, non-malfeasance, and beneficence. the proposed strategies abide by the legal and ethical principles, however; the paper foresees the probability of having various ethical conflict leading to an ethical dilemma. For instance, the ethical principles guarantee the patient the right to self-determination, but some substance abuse victims may present with altered cognitive functioning prompting the health worker to ignore the principle. Consequently, underage victims may seek rehabilitation and treatment services prompting the health worker to breech the principle of confidentiality since the underage population is not entitled to absolute autonomy and confidentiality. Evaluation of appropriateness will also involve determining whether the proposed strategies are applicable to the targeted population. According to Halse and Honey (2014), accessing illicit drug user is challenging since they perceive attempts to help them as a predisposition to law enforcement and incarceration. However, utilization of strategies such as snowballing and reassuring confidentiality can foster accessibility to the services. Another important domain of process evaluation is feasibility evaluation, which involves ascertaining that the proposed strategies are possible. To assess the feasibility of the proposed program, the process will involve assessing all the resources required to implement the program regarding availability and sustainability. According to the National Drug Strategy (2015), cost effectiveness is an essential determinant of the success of any proposed intervention. In this context, feasibility evaluation includes analysis of cost utility, cost benefit, and availability of finances. Another key element involved in feasibility assessment include human resource where the evaluation will check the availability of staff to implement, the level of knowledge of the proposed program and the workload created by the proposed program. Evaluation of the Program’s Outcome The program proposes to achieve three main outcomes namely improving health literacy, enhancing the treatment regimens and formulation of efficient substance abuse policies. In this section, the paper will explore the evaluation indicators for each of the proposed outcome. Literacy in the health care domain implies the ability to obtain basic health care information and utilize it to develop preventive or curative health behaviors (Chisolm, Manganello, Kelleher & Marshal, 2014). Therefore, the level of knowledge on the implication of drug abuse to the body forms the basic indicator for evaluation. Knowledge on the treatment regimen and existing support systems for substance abuse victims is also an essential evaluation indicator. In this context, the evaluation of health literacy will involve comparing the level of knowledge on the impact of substance abuse and available support systems prior and after the implementation. The evaluation on the enhancement of the treatment regimen will involve examining the rate of uptake for proposed strategies. According to Allan and Alston (2007), family-focused treatment involves assessing the family set-up and social, cultural norms and incorporating them in the management of the client. In this context, the indicators for family-based practices will include the increase in the number of cases incorporating the family structure, values, and culture in the management of the patient. The number will be obtained by conducting a retrospective study of patient's files and other medical documents. The evaluation on treatment regimen improvement will also involve checking the efforts put towards reaching the adolescents and rehabilitating offenders. The program proposes the creation of community support services for rehabilitated victims. In this context, evaluation of improved treatment regimens will also include determining the number of community-based support centers created. Finally, outcome evaluation will determine the strength of the formulated laws in controlling drug abuse among the indigenous Australians. The program proposes amendments or formulation of laws regarding substance abuse education in schools, rehabilitation and incarceration, and law enforcement. In this context, the evaluation indicators will include the number of new legislations and amendments regarding drug abuse education, rehabilitation, and law enforcement. According to National Drug Strategy (2015), community policing, problem-oriented policing and reduction of availability of illicit drugs are essential strategies in controlling substance abuse. Therefore, the evaluation process will be keen to assess the availability of policies on these factors and the stage of legislations or amendments of the proposed laws. The methods for evaluation will include counting the number of laws and surveying to determine the stages of legislation. Evaluation of the Program’s Impact The absolute goals of the program are to reduce the prevalence and incidences of substance abuse, facilitate treatment of substance abuse victims, and control the use of substances of abuse among indigenous Australians. Therefore, the impact evaluation will involve determining the results of the program to the indigenous population in Australia. The impact evaluation will consist of two phases namely the short and long-term evaluation. The short-term phase will be conducted on completion of implementation while long-term phase will be conducted regularly at six months intervals after the completion of implementation. The evaluation will be done systematically to determine whether each objective met its intended goals. the program sought increased the level of health literacy among the indigenous Australia with an intention of changing substance abuse behaviors and fostering assistance seeking behaviors. In this context, the evaluation of outcome for this objective will involve conducting a survey to determine the number of people who have quit substance abuse secondary to the program. the evaluation will also seek to identify rates of the indigenous individual seeking quitting assistance after the implementation of the program. The second objectives sought to improve the treatment regimen in a quest for increasing coverage and fostering quick recovery. The evaluation of the impact of improved treatment regimen will involve conducting a survey on the indigenous population exposed to the program. According to Allan and Alston (2007), family focused treatment empowers the families to assist the victims of drug abuse in quitting the substance abuse. In this context, the impact evaluation will seek to determine whether families of the victims are playing a major role in assisting the victims. The impact evaluation will also seek to determine whether focusing the treatment on adolescent and offenders has led to a significant reduction of substance abuse among these populations. As proposed by the program, community support services will play a major role in helping the victims quit substance abuse. In this context, the evaluation will seek to determine whether the community support services in reducing substance abuse and rehabilitating the victims. Additionally, rehabilitation involves the use of various activities, which include medication, behavioral therapy and support services among others (Lutman, Lynch, & Monk-Turner, 2015). Therefore, the evaluation for improved treatment will also include determining the availability of common medications and approximating the recovery time. Finally, the impact evaluation will also assess whether the goals for strengthened policies were achieved. The assessment process will involve conducting a survey to the target populations exposed to the program. First, the policies intended to introduce substance abuse education in all schools, thus increasing the health literacy and reducing the incidences of substance abuse. Therefore, the impact evaluation will involve comparing the incidences of substance abuse among young people prior and after the introduction of substance abuse education in schools. Second, the program proposed the use of rehabilitation as opposed to incarceration. In this context, the evaluation indicators for this proposal include rates of rehabilitation and rates of incarcerations secondary to substance abuse. The third proposal included enforcing the law by introducing community policing and problem-oriented policing thus increasing drug surveillance and reducing accessibility to substances of abuse. Therefore, the impact evaluation involve determining whether the law enforcers receive adequate knowledge on the drug barons and avert consignment of substances of abuse. Dissemination Evaluation Report The evaluation report will be disseminated to all the stakeholders involved in program inform of narrative form, figures, and tables. The stakeholders include health workers, social workers, policymakers, health care leaders, and community leaders. However, since different stakeholders have a particular role in the implementation and sustenance of the program, memos giving feedback to specific stakeholders will accompany the report. The progress and evaluation findings will be presented in the regular medical continuous education sessions. Additionally, the report will include provide recommendations for alleviating any challenges noted and foster the identified strengths. Conclusion In conclusion, the substance abuse control program demonstrates the capability to reduce the prevalence and incidences of substance abuse among the indigenous population. The evaluation shows that improving health literacy, enhancing treatment regimes and fostering the efficacy of policies are effective and measurable. The evaluation also reveals that the program abides by the professional standards of practices and principles of evaluation and thus appropriate. References Allan, J., Ball, P. & Alston, M. (2007). Developing sustainable models of rural health care: a community development approach. Rural and Remote Health. Retrieved 3/14/2016 from, http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewaust.asp?ArticleID=818 Chisolm, D. J., Manganello, J. A., Kelleher, K. J., & Marshal, M. P. (2014). Health literacy, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use behaviors in teens. Patient education and counseling, 97(2), 291-296. National Drug Strategy, (2015). National Drug strategy, 2010-2015: A Framework for Action on Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 3/14/2016 from, http://www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drug strategy/publishing.nsf/Content/DB4076D49F13309FCA257854007BAF30/$File/nds2015.pdf Fowler, S. (2011).Ethics in Nursing: Cases, Principles, and Reasoning. JAMA, 305(5), 512. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.66. Halse, C., & Honey, A. (2014).Unraveling ethics: Illuminating the moral dilemmas of research ethics.Signs, 40(1). Lutman, B., Lynch, C., & Monk-Turner, E. (2015). De-Demonizing the ‘Monstrous’ Drug Addict: A Qualitative Look at Social Reintegration Through Rehabilitation and Employment. Critical Criminology, 23(1), 57-72. Posavac, E. (2015). Program evaluation: Methods and case studies. Routledge. Read More