Client Participation Case Study

For the self-help meeting in regards for my reaction paper, I attended a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting. NA is a nonprofit, community-based, 12-step recovery organization for recovering drug addicts (Bowens, 2011, p. 1). The meeting I attended took place outside on a Saturday afternoon at Magnolia Park in Garden Grove, California. It is an open-group tag meeting, where one speaker will tag another person to share and welcome for anyone to attend. It was very easy to locate the meeting, as it was right in front of the park’s only parking lot with members sitting in a circle on benches and lawn chairs. The meeting started at 12:00pm and ended around 1:30pm.

At the beginning of my training, I was hesitant to work with people struggling with addiction. However, at this point, I am excited to begin working with this population. The raw honesty presented in the group setting along with the anger at the possibility of losing a safe place created a dynamic I wanted to further explore. Research supports that individuals attending group therapy in a 12 step program format succeed if they have the proper support and motivation (Cite). The group dynamic demonstrated that recovery takes time and self-discovery, similar to other situations dealt with in therapy. Subsequently, by using my sense of self and humor with clients struggling with addiction, I can help them in their journey. Furthermore, the client needs to identify accountability at their own pace in the process and not when others dictate. This knowledge and the personalization of addiction will aid me in the future support of my

2. The patient was provided with weekly sessions, random UDS testing, group sessions if needed, and any other case management the patient needed. The patient came to the clinic in need of treatment for his opioid dependence and was compliant with his treatment.

D-Met with the patient as the Women's Group was cancelled due to low attendance. This writer addressed with the patient about her AWOL status, at which the patient started to get emotional as she is struggling with transportation, borrowing her mother's car, her husband is still having issues getting into the Hartford Dispensary-tested postiive for methadone, and too much stressors in her life, which is causing the patient to not eat. This writer validated the patient's feelings, provided support, and made suggestions. The patient admits to relapsing yesterday by purchasing 10 bags of heroin, but using 6 and gave her husband 4 bags-use of method was IV. The patient feels guility of using, but her stress factors are overbearing her recovery process and the patient struggles with coping. She then says, " When I come to the Women's Group, I feel good....I was hoping there was going to be group today....I don't know." This writer provided empowerment and encouragement to the patient to focus on her recovery process and proceeded to discuss risk factors of what she will lose.

For most of the day I watched the girls work on their group poster. Each poster had a drug classification on it that they had to research information about it and present what they found to the group. These girls worked hard and my nursing diagnosis for the group was readiness for enhanced knowledge. The SMART outcome for these girls is learn more about their assigned drug and look up more helpful research. As well as, teach one another more about their assigned drug this next week. Some interventions would be to help the girls do more research, encourage the girls to learn more about the other drugs they did not cover on their posters and to reflect on how their personal drug of choice has effected their lives. Next week I will evaluate how the girls talk about their assigned drugs to one another and ask if they have learned more information about the drugs effects.

A psychiatrist in a methadone clinic in Northeast Washington, D.C. works with patients who are addicted to drugs. Some of her patients suffering from addiction

The mission statement for Reflective Treatment Center is “To provide comprehensive treatment services to adults dependent on Opiates, while ensuring recovery and integration back into family and community life through increased socialization, emotional and vocational skills. We are here to make a difference in the lives of the individuals we serve” (Reflective Treatment Center, 2016). Ms. Barnes indicated that the purpose and goals of the agency were included in the mission statement and that she found it well put. She also believes the agency to be meeting its goals which are providing comprehensive treatment services to adults with opiate dependency. By doing this the agency is aiding its clients to ensure recovery and integration back into

Problem #5 Illicit opiate use Goal(s): To become drug free Status: Active Objectives/Progress: Pt. has not done well in achieving his goal of maintaining abstinence from all illicit substance use over the last quarter as evidenced by his positive UDS. Patient’s last urine screen results indicate that opiates have been used. Pt. reported that he was able to be clean from more than 30 days but he used drugs while walking through his neighborhood. Counselor expressed concern and disappointment about his recent relapse on heroin. During last month session, Pt. recognized the danger of the situation and how he will avoid the acquaintance that offered him drug. Pt. has failed to move to Phase 1 of the AMS of DE TX program due to his four positive UDS since entering the program on 7/6/16.Counselor will meet with Pt. to examine pt.'s motivation to stay clean, how to deal with triggers in order to achieve continued abstinence, to help him recover from his recent relapse and reenter the change process.

As I began thinking about what topic covers a multitude of citizens and is a significant issue and problem that affects the justice system here in the United States, almost automatically I was drawn to my deep passion for recovery based solutions to drug and alcohol addictions. I have found my experiences in recovery, to repeatedly be surrounded with the pain of those whom have suffered and are still suffering from effects of their addiction(s). Many addictions have grown out of the same medications that when used properly, provided the relief sought to provide pain maintenance and therefore relief of such pain. I firmly believe that without some form of spiritual

Welcome to CHCDEV001 Confirm Client Developmental Status! This unit of study is one of the 16 units that make up the Diploma of Community Services (Case Management).

Harm reduction is a concept that refers to policies, programs, and practices that aim to reduce the harms associated with the use of psychoactive drugs in people unable or unwilling to stop (Syme, Browne, Varcoe, & Josewski, 2011). Methadone has been increasingly utilized as a means of addressing and reducing the health, social, and fiscal harms associated with opiate addiction (Kerr, Marsh, Li, Montaner, & Wood, 2005). During my clinical rotation at Rosthern Hospital, I learned that this small town rural hospital has a successful methadone program to treat opioid addiction. When a person thinks of small town Saskatchewan, their first though is not usually intravenous (IV) drug use, but after working at Rosthern Hospital for a few shifts, I began to realize the town and the surrounding communities may have an addictions problem. At the hospital, the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and support staff have all decided to collaborated and developed a harm-reduction methadone program for their patients. Not only is this program successful because it addresses the needs of the community, but it is also controversial. Using Carper’s (1978) “Five Ways of Knowing” I examined the methadone program and its patients, the positive and negatives, as well as a patient’s own personal experience being in the methadone program.

Goal 1: Jeannie would like to be able to work through the issues of her past and feel more confident in her marriage over the next 6 month’s time.

The group topic was on “Looking at Urges and Cravings” (U&C). Activities included learning and identifying the patterns/signs of U&C, and learning steps and strategies for handling U&C to avoid/prevent unnecessary relapse. Mr. Hatch minimally participated in the group process today. Identified his personal triggers are “Bills, stress, and old friends that are still using”, and he avoids to associate or contact with people that are still using, and works hard on his job. It appears that Mr. Hatch is able to cope with U&C without using substances to escape reality.

Goal #: Continue in obtaining information about developed illness. This goal will be a short term to medium goal for the client to research information to become acknowledge about their illness. The client will continue as before to gain knowledge about illness, its symptoms, and treatments that are beneficial for the client's health. The information that is obtained by the client can be discussed in the presence of health care provider and/or clinician. A health care provider and/or clinician will also provide information to the client about the illness, symptoms, and treatments. The information is important to be told and know for the client's well being to maintain a healthy lifestyle before and after symptoms arise.

The primary intent regarding addiction from the social work perspective should be to help the general public understand that persons addicted to opioids, much the same as victims of any chronic relapsing disease, deserve to be treated with compassion and respect as they seek access to medical treatment for their disease. Having that foundation, the use of methadone can be a very efficient, non threatening alternative treatment. Social services should be meaningfully incorporated into the process at the onset of one becoming involved in the legal system by way of addiction. Policies and procedures that greatly enhance the assessment, intervention, and treatment of addiction should be as visible and available as the authority figure prominently appears in