The British Association of Social Workers is calling for better pre- and post-qualifying training on how to deal with alcohol and drug problems among service users. Is it needed?
The problem is work with subtance misusers is not really considered social work
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but the effects on peoples ability to parent etc mean that people should have an understanding.
the effect on people's lives whether that be the service user or their carer / families / supporters means that we as social workers need to be clued up on substance misuse, it's very much treated as a criminal issue or at best a health problem whereas i think it is more a social problem and the devestation it can cause means that substance users should be able to access social work support if nesercary
lizzer: the effect on people's lives whether that be the service user or their carer / families / supporters means that we as social workers need to be clued up on substance misuse, it's very much treated as a criminal issue or at best a health problem whereas i think it is more a social problem and the devestation it can cause means that substance users should be able to access social work support if nesercary
i think treating addiction's as a social problem is causing more problems. smoking is not a social problem, it is a health problem and if it were ilegal it would also be a criminal justice problem. labeling drug addicts and alcoholics as having a 'social problem' validates an individual's lack of responasbility. addiction is addiction is addiction.
i'm now more concerned about policy rather than practice. thankfully in scotland we are moving back toward (slowly) a medical/criminal justice model. we cannot sustain, for the good of the public at large and the individuals, a policy that continues to enable ones addiction for decades. it is verging on te criminal that we do this to people and families.
During my entire course, we have had no more than mentions of substance misuse- in terms of it happens among service users- a lot. We've received no more training about it than that. I know only what I earned in my previous jobs, and from my own research, and from what I've read on here in the past, I don't think my uni is unique in this matter. So I would say this is a subject that does need to be dealt with more in pre-qualifying training, certainly.
sorry - about my really bad spelling, and also i got on my high horse instead of answering the question, we also had no training in substance misuse on my uni course although they were taking our views into account when we said that needed to change, my knowledge came from my own study and my own experiences. so yes i agree with BASW this must change
I have lots of exp of working with individulals with drug and alcohol issues prior to undertaking my MA in Social Work and in other various settings including children and families (as an unqualified worker for 10 years). I keep going back to the same thing, before undertaking the degree/MA in social work, go out and work unqualified, gain social care experience and then gain the qualification. There appears to be too much responsibility on academic institutions to 'teach' issues such as substance misuse. I learn't so much more working in drug/alcohol agencies for 4 years, university could never give me the skills needed to work with substance misuse harms. There is no question that universities should cover substance misuse/drug training as core subjects, however many don't. I am appauled that this is the situation is still being addressed as many families who are subject to care proceedings, have substance misusing parents, how can we work effectively without the exp/knowledge of substance misuse!!!!
Knowledge of motivational interviewing, harm reduction, solution focused therapy, cycle of change are integeral when working with the above client group - and referral routes to detox/rehab programmes.
There are absolutely loads of books and journal articles dealing with this issue. However, what I would recommend is trying to get some voluntary work perhaps in a mental health or drug abuse setting. I guess what I always keep in mind is depite the fact that social work likes to organise itself into different fields the scope for 'crossing of boundaries' is an every day occurance. The difference between fields is blurred...so potentially you could have someone who is disabled and has drug abuse issues. And maybe keep in mind that everyone accross the profession is still learning because of new research and new methods.
Just a thought. M
Hi,
We had a whole module on substance misuse on my degree course- undergraduate.
The importance of considering substance misuse witin the holistic assessment and the effects this may have on parenting capacity, individuals capacity to change, resources, motivational interviewing, dual diagnosis etc was discussed.
Given that whether one works directly with a person with substance misuse/dependence etc or one is working with the effects on a child due to parental misuse i feel it is incredibly important to have this knowledge.
I would consider this as important as having training on mental health..........I presume all Uni's have a mental health module or am i wrong????????
I think all courses should have mandatory training on substance misuse too. Does anyone know if there is a core curriculum in universities? My MA was poor and I learn't most through paid jobs in the voluntary and statutory sector.
The Department of Health doesn't require universities to teach about drug and alcohol misuse, although some choose to put it in their curriculum anyway. According to the General Social Care Council, this is one of the areas being looking at by the social work reform board...
Depending on where you live in the UK and which research you look at, between 70% and 90% of all child protection cases feature parental substance misuse. (Drugs and/or Alcohol).
The effects of parental substance misuse on the ability to adequately parent a child ranges from at the one end of the scale, superficially appearing to improve the practical aspects of parenting to, at the other end of the scale, killing them. With all the variations in between.
To ignore the training required to work with these complex issues is criminal.
Useful outcome focused interventions are complex and varied and require some real skills to implement. Good therapeutic and social work interventions can help some people to make real and useful changes in their behaviour. You just never know which ones are ready to change until you try. I see it happen all the time. Co-incidentally, this morning I had a call from an ex-client who had rung up just to tell me how she was doing. I have not seen her for nearly a year. This was a herion user who was prostituting herself and mixing with some very shady people indeed. She is now off drugs and doing voluntary work with drug users. She has been 'clean' for 12 months.
There is no requirement for social work education to include alcohol and other drugs as yet although people with alcohol and other drug problems did get a mention or two in the taskforce report. It's an issue that cuts across all age groups and people with a range of needs. Often it is highlighted by social workers in children and family settings but it is also common among people with mental health problems and we are seeing an increase in older people developing problems too, particularly in combination with prescribed medication.
There is such high rate of overlap with other problems including domestic abuse and mental ill health that to exclude it does not help social workers offer a good and knowledgeable service to people we are supposed to be helping.
Unfortunately alcohol and drug use, particularly problematic substance use, is a social problem like it or not. Substance use both stems from and leads to a range of social problems. We cannot keep ignoring it in social work education.
Sarah.
PS. BASW are running a free conference on substance use and older people and substance use and mental health on march 9th in manchester. Call BASW for details. 0121 622 8416
Given that students constantly say how their social work training does not prepare them for practice per se, BASW should just concentrate on improving social work education in its totality. No amount of training will tackle problematic substance misuse given that services are geared towards ‘harm reduction’, which is a tacit admission that priorities are about controlling problems associated with abuse. Substance misuse services have a perverse incentive of keeping people on drugs and alcohol given that abstinence precludes accessing the myriad resources and interventions available in this sector. Before the indignant comments, think through the implications of methadone treatment and ‘controlled’ drinking and the effectiveness of rehabilitation if you are really concerned about getting people “clean”. Proper social work is about challenging people to confront and change the deficits in their lives, not reinforcing them.
An interesting though not an entierly accruate view of the world; furhtermoe one that misses quite a lot of the releavance of drug/alcohol work to social work and what it can acheive particulalryl when agencies work in tandem: Read the hidden harm document. As for agencies having a Perversely Incentiveised interest in harm reduction: please show me the evidence. I am a social worker of 18 years and know our locals team philospophy is working with harm reduction towards wherever possible total cessation of all drugs and alcohol use; they seem to do a reasonbale job
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It is not just the user: we should be concerned about the impact upon kith and Kin ( particulrly children) as it can cause horrendous emotional damage and dysfunctionality and we need to faccillitate their acces to useful services if nothing else. I dont have fifgures but I would think that there is a reasonablly large precentage of Drug/Alcohol related issues on our caseloadds
Nihat Erol: Given that students constantly say how their social work training does not prepare them for practice per se, BASW should just concentrate on improving social work education in its totality. No amount of training will tackle problematic substance misuse given that services are geared towards ‘harm reduction’, which is a tacit admission that priorities are about controlling problems associated with abuse. Substance misuse services have a perverse incentive of keeping people on drugs and alcohol given that abstinence precludes accessing the myriad resources and interventions available in this sector. Before the indignant comments, think through the implications of methadone treatment and ‘controlled’ drinking and the effectiveness of rehabilitation if you are really concerned about getting people “clean”. Proper social work is about challenging people to confront and change the deficits in their lives, not reinforcing them.
well said sir, i said as much in another thread. at present we enable addiction rather than treat it eg. detox. this the whole maintenance/harm reduction model is just a 'cash cow'. what addiction team can ask for more funding when they actually treat/detox people and get them off the books?