SPS201 Alcohol and Other Drugs Case Study 2 Sample

Assignment Details

Case Study

You are the case worker for a single mother (Mary) who has a 15-year-old son (Toby). Mary is struggling with her use of alcohol and states she often smokes cannabis (marijuana) when her son is at school.

Mary has said that she hasn’t worked since her son was born and had previously managed by doing odd jobs for friends and neighbours. However, Mary has said that now her son is older she would like to get a full-time job but is worried that she will not be successful due to her problematic use of alcohol and cannabis.

When ‘probing’ further into Mary’s dependence, you come to understand that she regularly has her first glass of wine with breakfast and states that without it she can’t ‘think’ straight.

Mary said she found a half-smoked joint in her son’s room when she was cleaning, and she is worried that he maybe experimenting with drugs.

Mary states that she would like to be able to stop drinking and smoking marijuana but every time she has tried before it hasn’t worked.

Part 1 – Identified Issues

What are the legal issues in this case study?
What category/types of drugs are discussed?
Define mandated reporting requirements and if it is relevant in this particular case.
What is the possible assessment and/or referral options?

Part 2 – Critical Reflection

You have taken Mary’s case to your supervisor and your supervisor has asked you to spend time reflecting on your decisions and consider what worked well and what other options were available to you.

Note: You are making out a case to your supervisor of how you propose to go about engaging Mary for counselling, referral, and other interventions – the assumption is that this is the initial interview with her. As well as a future-looking perspective you may also want to include and elaborate a backward-looking perspective, reflecting on what has occurred so far.

In a critical reflection you would be expected to avoid narrowly understanding Mary’s actions, her current difficulties etc through the lens of her being a drug and alcohol dependent person. Instead of using a very narrow problem focussed lens, there could be much more to her situation, such as describing and identifying her achievements, her potential to improve her social function, identify social supports, restore self-confidence, reduce anxiety, rather than focus on her perceived deficits. This approach has been described as a strengths focussed approach.1

Your supervisor has also requested you to consider your professional responsibility and accountability and asked you to put this into a mini report that could be developed as a treatment plan.

Referencing

You must use APA 7 referencing.

Solution

Part 1 – Identified Issues

Health and social care practice involves diverse professionals, including doctors, registered nurses, pharmacists, surgeons, counsellors, and general physical and social workers, to deliver the best quality treatment and service to the patients (Haber et al., 2021). The case study of Mary, a single mother, has a 15-year-old son. Mary is suffering from alcohol and drugs by smoking cannabis (marijuana). Mary tries to quit drinking and smoking marijuana, but she fails to overcome her addiction to alcohol and drugs. She currently searches for a full-time job but fails to get employment due to the issue of addiction. The legal issues associated with treatment of Mary include the patient's rights and autonomy, maintaining confidentiality, and reporting obligations, as well as substance use disorder and treatment (Mintz et al., 2021). Section 71 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, is necessary to be implemented, under which the government establishes centres for identifying the addicted person and delivering the best quality treatment and counselling sessions (Gryczynski et al., 2021). Patient safety and security is also another legal issue that may arise due to a lack of efficiency in treating the drug-addicted person. The NDPS ACT makes it illegal to produce and sell drugs in society. The Rehabilitation Act is also implemented to avoid the issue of discrimination and disability for university assignment help while treating Mary (Rolova, Gavurova & Petruzelka, 2021).

Mary mainly intakes cannabis, commonly known as marijuana or weed, and it lies in the category of Schedule I drugs. The mandatory reporting law establishes a legally enforceable duty for people from vulnerable populations to report to the state and local authorities to seek the best quality care and support to live a healthy lifestyle. In the case of Mary, reporting is mandatory regarding personal experience, choices and preferences, health issues, and relevant referral programs for the individual. The social workers and doctors review the reporting for better patient assessment and diagnose Mary to develop a care plan. Patient confidentiality should be maintained along with the patient's data protection to avoid legal ramifications. Autonomy and privacy are hereby mandatory for reporting (Alsuhaibani et al., 2021).

In order to treat Mary, patient assessment and developing an appropriate referral programme is essential. The patient assessment is being conducted on the basis of the medical history of Mary, physical examination, mental health status, laboratory test and understanding the pattern of using alcohol and drugs (Carl et al., 2023). Moreover, to treat the patient abusing drugs and alcohol, it is important to identify the type of drug, quantity and frequency, pattern of use, source of drug, and signs and symptoms. The referral program to treat Mary includes Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART). It helps the individual to communicate and collaborate with the counsellors and medical professionals to share personal information, difficulties in quitting drugs, and her ambition (McKay, 2021). The rehabilitation centre is also playing a crucial role in treating the person addicted to drugs and alcohol with physical activities, social engagement, empowerment, and job employment opportunities (Volkow & Blanco, 2023). The training and skill development program would be effective for Mary to develop her abilities to get a job and be socially engaged in different social activities.

Part 2 – Critical Reflection

Patient assessment and supervision are effective in treating Mary, who is suffering from addiction to alcohol and drugs. She tries hard to quit smoking and drinking but fails due to lack of empowerment, unemployment and living as a single mother. Lack of stress management, anxiety disorder, and lack of social engagement further raise difficulties for Mary to live a healthy lifestyle without substance abuse. I, as a health and social care professional, focus on diagnosing the individual and developing a patient assessment report to create an appropriate health care plan. Through continuous communication and cooperation with Mary, I try to engage her in the counselling process and self-management and recovery training. I always motivate her to be empowered and play an active role, mainly in self-management and recovery training, so that she can be productive and interact with others to be socially engaged. In this context, I try to develop a safe and secure place where Mary can feel comfortable to stay and share her perception regarding self-care and management. I also try to share the treatment plan and current activities with her to empower her in the process of recovery. Moreover, ensuring confidentiality, continuous communication, transparency and managing individual privacy further helps me to develop a strong bonding with Mary. I try to utilise my time management, communication and cooperation skills to work efficiently and arrange self-management and recovery training so that Mary can overcome challenges and maximise her standard of living.

Mary is a successful single mother, contributing to the family by taking care of her son and managing his education. She has the potential to engage with social communities and identify social support for better living. Her self-confidence, continuous communication and open-minded personality further help her to strengthen relationships with others. This would be beneficial for Mary to attend the Self-Management and Recovery Training and counselling processes to be engaged with others and be productive so that she can feel valued. Such day-to-day activities, training, and developmental programs will provide an opportunity for Mary to overcome the issues of anxiety disorder, stress, eating disorder, and substance abuse to maximize their quality of life. I try to utilise my critical analytical and problem-solving skills to resolve the care of Mary by effective patient diagnosis and developing referral programs. I always try to cooperate with Mary and share information so that she feels comfortable and valued while accessing the treatment facilities. Continuous interaction and open discussion, along with an effective training program, are beneficial to support Mary to live healthily. I try to utilize clinical skills and decision-making skills to safeguard Mary and provide her with appropriate treatment and continuous care so that she will be successful in quitting substance abuse. Through legal compliance and ethical practice, I try to meet my responsibility and manage transparency and accountability while treating Mary. For further improvement, I would like to develop clinical expertise to treat patients with substance abuse by implementing the latest treatment facilities and national principles, including developing person-centred care, equitable access, culturally responsive, coordinated, and non-discriminated approach.

References

Alsuhaibani, R., Smith, D. C., Lowrie, R., Aljhani, S., & Paudyal, V. (2021). Scope, quality and inclusivity of international clinical guidelines on mental health and substance abuse in relation to dual diagnosis, social and community outcomes: a systematic review. BMC psychiatry, 21(1), 209. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03188-0

Carl, A., Pasman, E., Broman, M. J., Lister, J. J., Agius, E., & Resko, S. M. (2023). Experiences of healthcare and substance use treatment provider-based stigma among patients receiving methadone. Drug and alcohol dependence reports, 6, 100138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadr.2023.100138

Gryczynski, J., Nordeck, C. D., Welsh, C., Mitchell, S. G., O’Grady, K. E., & Schwartz, R. P. (2021). Preventing hospital readmission for patients with comorbid substance use disorder: a randomized trial. Annals of internal medicine, 174(7), 899-909. https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-5475

Haber, P. S., Riordan, B. C., Winter, D. T., Barrett, L., Saunders, J., Hides, L., ... & Morley, K. C. (2021). New Australian guidelines for the treatment of alcohol problems: an overview of recommendations. Medical Journal of Australia, 215, S3-S32. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51254

McKay, J. R. (2021). Impact of continuing care on recovery from substance use disorder. Alcohol research: current reviews, 41(1), 01. https://doi.org/10.35946/arcr.v41.1.01

Mintz, C. M., Hartz, S. M., Fisher, S. L., Ramsey, A. T., Geng, E. H., Grucza, R. A., & Bierut, L. J. (2021). A cascade of care for alcohol use disorder: Using 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data to identify gaps in past 12?month care. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 45(6), 1276-1286. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.14609

Rolova, G., Gavurova, B., & Petruzelka, B. (2021). Health literacy, self-perceived health, and substance use behavior among young people with alcohol and substance use disorders. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(8), 4337. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084337

Volkow, N. D., & Blanco, C. (2023). Substance use disorders: a comprehensive update of classification, epidemiology, neurobiology, clinical aspects, treatment and prevention. World Psychiatry, 22(2), 203-229. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21073

Fill the form to continue reading
Would you like to schedule a callback?
Send us a message and we will get back to you

Highlights

Earn While You Learn With Us
Confidentiality Agreement
Money Back Guarantee
Live Expert Sessions
550+ Ph.D Experts
21 Step Quality Check
100% Quality
24*7 Live Help
On Time Delivery
Plagiarism-Free
Get Instant Help
University Assignment Help

Still Finding University Assignment Help? You’ve Come To The Right Place!


CAPTCHA
AU ADDRESS
81 Isla Avenue Glenroy, Mel, VIC, 3046 AU
CONTACT