Substance Abuse Health Promotion Intervention - Essay Example

Substance Abuse Health Promotion Intervention: Wichita Introduction Substance abuse is the excessive, self-damaging and compulsive use of substances that alter one’s behavior. The abuse of drugs has been globally recognized as a problem in the society. This is because they lead to addiction and dependence. In other circumstances, drug abuse has been shown to result in psychological and physical effects, as well as death. Unlike other medical conditions, drug abuse can affect individuals of any gender, age, income level and community. The most commonly abused drugs include marijuana, cocaine, heroin, alcohol and other illegal drugs. Today, there is a shift to the abuse of prescription drugs. These include opiates, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and other drugs used in mental disorders (MacKinnon et al. 164). This paper will elaborate the development of a health promotion intervention that is aimed at tackling drug abuse in Wichita. Identifying the Problem Wichita is one of the most affluent cities in Kansas State due to its economic growth. This economic growth is attributed to industrialization and urbanization of the city. Despite this flourishing economy, Wichita serves as a prime drug consumer market, as well as a drug trafficking hub. Drugs from Mexico and other towns easily access this town through the Southwest Border. The drugs are then distributed in the town by various street gangs to teenagers as well as adults. The drug mafias smuggle the drugs into Wichita using the national highway and distribute them using a network of street gangs (Transformation Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre [further on, TDATC]). The city’s nightlife and risk behavior among the residents has predisposed the town to drug trafficking. Wichita city has various night-clubs and discos which serve as a lucrative market for the sale of drugs. In 2009, the USA National Survey on Drug use and Human Health estimated that about 18% of the residents in Wichita engaged in substance abuse. This figure was higher than the national figure which the NSDHH estimated to be at 8.87% (TDATC). According to the local police, the majority of crimes and deaths in the city are attributed to drug trafficking cases. It is also reported that death rate associated with drug abuse in Wichita is higher than the national average. This is mainly attributed to the fact that the drugs are easily smuggled and distributed in the city. In addition, there are many illicit methamphetamine manufacturing laboratories distributed in the city. The drugs which are mostly abused include cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine. The abuse of prescription drugs has also increased amongst the teenagers in Wichita. This is because the drugs are easily accessible and cheap compared to the illegal drugs. Majority of the teens access these drugs from their homes. These drugs have significantly affected the lives of the residents of Wichita. Majority of the teenagers engage in drugs and drop out of school. Parents who are drug abusers neglect their responsibility and their families (TDATC). Despite the drug awareness in the city, majority of the teens are susceptible to drug abuse. The street gangs have gained access to schools, colleges, clubs and raves in the city. They are also widely distributed all over town. The police have filed various reports concerning warehouses and other distribution hubs located within the city. The federal and local police have launched various anti-drug campaigns aimed at reducing the drug trafficking menace in Wichita. Although they have arrested several drug mafias, the problem is wide spread in the city. The abuse of drugs among adolescents and adults in the city has greatly affected the security of the city. The local police have attributed the recent raise in crimes rate to drug smuggling and distribution. Majority of teens and adults arrested in various robberies have reported to be looking for money to buy drugs. Some of the abusers have resulted to violence in order to get the money required to finance their addiction. Many drug mafias and street gangs benefit from the large consumer market in Wichita. Evidence Based intervention There are various health promotion interventions that can be applied in preventing drug abuse in Wichita. Due to the extent of the wide spread effects of substance abuse, a community mobilization approach would be effective in tackling the menace. Community mobilization strategy engages all aspects of a community in solving a problem. These include health professions, policy makers, local and federal police, religious leaders and individuals in the community. This strategy aims at empowering the community to participate in tackling the menace (Spoth et al. 750). Community mobilization involves various phases that aim at mobilizing required resources, generating support, distribution of information and facilitating cooperation between the public and private sector. This approach significantly benefits the community in encouraging the community to embrace the problem as well as come up with solutions. Community mobilization has been successfully applied in various health promotion projects. In the USA, Project Northland demonstrated that community mobilization can be used to modifying the risks involved in influencing teenagers who engage in alcohol and drug abuse (Perry et al. 1216). The project utilized a multi-axial approach that involved the school curriculum, community activities, peer distributed material and coming up with new laws regarding the sale of alcohol. Studies indicated that community mobilization approach significantly influenced a range of protective and risk factors as well the behavioral outcomes. At the end of the project, the number of youth abusing drugs significantly reduced. Another successful project was the Midwest Prevention Program which utilized community mobilization programs (Perry et al. 1213). This program collaborated the efforts of parents, health professionals and the policy makers in coming up with solutions to drug abuse. The health professionals taught the parents and students about the adverse effects of substance abuse. The police and local policy makers came up with a measure to reduce access to the drugs. The students and the members of the community participated in the dissemination of information to their peers. At the end of this project, alcohol abuse levels reduced significantly in the US. Although this method has significant success rates in control of alcohol abuse, it is not effective when used alone to control the abuse of tobacco. The Grampian Smoke-busters Club in the United Kingdom was not successful in reducing the number of smokers in the country even after four years (MacKinnon et al. 165). The program implemented peer education, social marketing strategies, peer education and health promotion services aimed at preventing teenage use of tobacco. Despite the community participation in these activities, the number of persons abusing tobacco did not reduce over the next 4 years. This implies that other interventions should be used in together with community mobilization programs to reduce the abuse of tobacco. The main intention of the project is to reduce and modify the factors that predispose the citizens of Wichita to drug abuse. It also aims at educating the residents of the city on the harmful effects of drug abuse. The project aims at coming up with policies and laws that will help reduce the number of persons that engage in drug abuse. This will eventually reduce the number of potential customers in the drugs market and thus discourage the drug mafias and street gang. The project will target the teenagers and adults who abuse drugs as well as those who are at risk of abusing the drugs. The goal of this health promotion program is to reduce the number of persons abusing drugs. It will also modify the risk behavior of the residents of Wichita which predisposes them to drug abuse. This program will help the community expand the community support on drug abuse. Collaboration between the public and private sector will help expand the funding scope of the support programs in Wichita. The program will help the residents come up with solutions that will help in preventing the youth from drug abuse. This program will help encourage collaboration between the residents and the police in crippling the drug market. This includes strategies that will help identify and arrest the drug mafias and street gangs who benefit from this illegal trade. Steps in Implementing a Substance Abuse Health Intervention Program The first step to take when implementing community mobilization is undertaking a situation analysis on the subject matter. Identifying the exact problem for which the intervention is needed is paramount. This will put into consideration the commonly abused drugs in Wichita. The bio demographic details are also important to analyze. The level of community disability caused by the problem is also vital to determine. This will help in dictating the urgency for an intervention so as to prevent further deterioration. The level of literacy in the region will determine the communications channels to be employed (Perry et al. 1214). An analysis on the number of people affected is also imperative. While on this step, it is important to analyze the resources at hand. This will help in the implementation of the in intervention. Resources will be needed in coming up with materials such as stationery, pamphlets, brochures among others. Transport resources are also important to consider. Constant movement will be required so as to cover the Wichita community. Determination of whether to employ any form of communication equipments such as a public address will be carried out. The second step is involving the community leaders. Any person in authority will be of much use when it comes to designing an intervention program that will tackle substance abuse. Areas that have increased prevalence of substance abuse also have high crime rates. One may need security and protection which will be accorded with the help of community leaders. Leaders may also help one in acquiring authorization to carry out the health intervention in Wichita. Building a team is the third step. This will involve the determination of the various necessary organs that will help in developing community mobilization intervention. This includes health professionals and workers in the health department that will assist and give directions in the intervention. Various supports group that exist on substance abuse are also considered. They will help in the determination of potential avenues to explore in community mobilization strategy. Moreover, they will help in the identification of potential pitfalls that might be encountered in the intervention program and how to avert the pitfalls. The fourth step will be to decide on the community mobilization angles to explore. This will be determined by information gathered in the situation analysis. Innovative methods that will reach the affected population effectively will be utilized. Outreach community based action may be considered so as to target the affected population. This involves penetrating into the settings where substance abusers gather. Health prevention and education is then distributed directly to the affected population. Depending on situation analysis, another method that can be explored is peer education while utilizing the existing channels. Communication channels will also be decided on this stage. This can be in the form of audio-visual messages if there is an existence of local channels. Written messages are also crucial in the passage of information regarding substance abuse and its dangers. Before deciding on the community mobilization model to utilize, there is a need to study the constraints and advantages of various strategies. As mentioned earlier, written messages may not help in the event of decreased literacy levels. It may also not be feasible to cover the entire region in a personal outreach strategy in community based action. This may require the use of audio-visual transmission to implement the intervention. The fifth step is designing the message to pass across. This will be to determine the appropriate content and message to pass across. This will be dictated by the outcome of the first step, i.e. situation analysis. The specific type of substance abuse is an important determinant of the message and content. This is in reference to the adverse effects of specific drugs. Coverage will be on making the target group and the community aware of the adverse effects (Thacker 189). The message should include the limitations of substance abuse with regards to loss of jobs and how substance abuse affects family ties. Parental training is also important to consider. This is imperative if situation analysis shows there is a prevalence in adolescent substance abuse. The message in this case would be one that teaches parents on how to find out if their children are abusing and the necessary measures required. Laws relevant to substance abuse need to be incorporated in the message/content while undertaking your intervention (Perry et al. 1212). The sixth step will be to develop a work plan. This means establishing the prime time to institute the community mobilization program. This will be largely determined by those that one is going to work with. This includes identification of the appropriate time in the relevant departments aforementioned, and when to engage them. The work plan should have the working personnel, when to commence and the coverage that one is expected to attain. Areas that each personnel are to cover are dealt with in the work plan. The work plan also incorporates goals and objectives that are to be attained within a specified time line. The final step in developing the intervention is the creation of a budget. This will show the expected expenditure. It will characterize this in terms of material, labor cost, transport, among others. It is necessary to couple the development of a work plan with the budget. Evaluation of the success of the intervention In order to do this, there is a need for the selection of a proper evaluation method. In this case, the evaluation can be process evaluation. This is evaluation of an on going intervention. It can also be summative if the intervention has already been completed. The evaluation framework is then designed with regards to data fields. The data fields for the evaluation are related to the outcomes of the community mobilization intervention. A sampling design is used so as to evaluate the outcomes. This is in terms of data collection, which can then be computed so as to yield information (Thacker 188). In the fields, data can be queried for the target group. In this intervention program, the target group is those abusing substances. Data fields will entail the number of people that have been accessed by the intervention. Data on whether the program reached the target group is also important. It is significant to find out whether the community mobilization intervention has a good reputation within the populous. The number of people who have participated in the intervention program is also a determinant to the success of the intervention. The other data field areas are in regard to the outcomes. This includes the number of school drop outs due to drugs. Success would be indicated by a decreasing number. Another data entry is the number of job drop outs due to drugs within the targeted population. This will decrease so as to indicate success of the intervention program. Data should also be taken regarding the number of incarceration in Wichita due to substance abuse and related crimes. A positive indicator in the evaluation would be a decrease in this number. It is also significant to seek data regarding the number of morbidity related to drug abuse within Wichita. This is indicated by the number of hospitalizations due to substance abuse. Mortality rates due to substance abuse and related complications should also be sought. A decrease in these numbers will indicate success in your intervention. Another area that one can use in collecting data with regards to evaluation is awareness. Changes in awareness are key indicators of the success of the intervention strategy. This can be queried via asking of several questions that will serve to show the following. This include the number of people that are aware of the intervention program; the number of people who are aware of the adverse effects of substance abuse; and the number of people aware of the potential law regulations regarding substance abuse. Increased awareness culminates in few people who indulge in substance abuse. Conclusion Substance abuse has been recognized worldwide as a community problem. This is because it also affects the community in addition to the abuser. Therefore, the community should unite in tackling the issue. In Wichita, the smuggling and distribution of drugs is so widespread that the local and federal police cannot tackle it solely. Several key steps are necessary so as to come up with an effective health promotion/education intervention. These steps include situation analysis, involving the community leaders, building a team, generating a work plan, designing and appropriate message and budget creation. The intervention routine will be governed by the work plan. An appropriate message needs to be chosen. Evaluation of the intervention is necessary so as to ensure effectiveness and success. Data can be collected with regards to outcomes and other indicators. This can then be analyzed to generate information. This information can then show the success of the intervention. Works Cited MacKinnon, Dennison and Anderson Johnson. “Mediating Mechanisms in a School-based Drug Prevention Program: First-year Effects of the Midwestern Prevention Project.” Health Psychology, 10 (1991): 164-72. Print. Perry, Kelder et al. “Community Wide Smoking Prevention: Long-term Outcomes of the Minnesota Heart Health Program and the Class of 1989 Study.” American Journal of Public Health, 82 (1992): 1210-16. Print. Spoth, Redmond, and Carl Hockaday. “Protective Factors and Young Adolescent Tendency to Abstain from Alcohol Use: a Model Using Two Waves of Intervention Study Data.” American Journal of Community Psychology, 24 (1996): 749-70. Print. Thacker, Koplan et al. “Assessing Prevention Effectiveness Using Data to Drive Program Decisions.” Public Health Reports. 109.2 (1994):187-194.Print. “Transformation Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre.” Narcotic abuse statistics in Wichita. Web. 27th Mar. 2012. Read More