[Regulations 9 and 13]
| 1. |
Prevention of harm from substance abuse |
An early intervention programme must provide for—
| (a) |
immediate counselling; or |
| (b) |
referral for professional intervention. |
| 2. |
Screening for substance abuse |
An early intervention programme must include—
| (b) |
preliminary assessment, |
as part of the screening of a person and the family of a person who uses substances.
The screening process referred to in item 1(b) must involve—
| (a) |
identification of the type or types of substances that have been used and length of period during which the substance have been used; |
| (b) |
a provisional psychiatric diagnosis that determines if the person concerned has a substance dependency and the likelihood of other co-morbid conditions; |
| (c) |
the determination of the severity of substance abuse; |
| (d) |
a brief social history and needs assessment of the person including— |
| (ii) |
socio-economic challenges; |
| (e) |
taking the age of a child who is subject to screening into consideration and informing parents or caregivers about the results of assessment; and |
| (f) |
providing feedback on the results of screening process. |
| 4. |
Motivation of persons using substances |
An early intervention programme must motivate a person using substances and his or her family to participate in the programme by imparting—
| (a) |
information on treatment gains; and |
| (b) |
knowledge on the consequences of substance use. |
| 5. |
Maintaining family and community ties |
An early intervention programme must encourage the maintenance of family and community ties by—
| (a) |
out-patient treatment services or community-based services; and |
| (b) |
support services and linking persons and their families with available resources. |
| 6. |
Keeping families intact |
An early intervention programme must be aimed at keeping the family of a person using substances intact by—
| (a) |
identifying and assessing— |
towards persons abusing substances and service users;
| (b) |
assessing the family's level of knowledge and understanding about issues related to— |
| (ii) |
economic self reliance; and |
| (c) |
developing a family preservation plan with the involvement of service users and family; |
| (i) |
family's perceptions; |
by providing them with information and facts about substance abuse and its effects;
| (e) |
encouraging forgiveness and co-operation amongst family members through individual and family counselling; |
| (f) |
empowering families with parenting and family management knowledge and skills by referring them to relevant agencies; |
| (g) |
equipping parents and families with knowledge and skills to identify and deal with early warning signs of experimentation and use of substances; |
| (h) |
creating social and economic opportunities aimed at improving service user's and family's self-reliance by linking them with social and economic development agencies; |
| (i) |
encouraging service users and families to participate in— |
| (iii) |
cultural activities, |
and promote healthy eating habits and safe sex practices;
| (j) |
improving the well-being and resilience of families; |
| (k) |
exploiting the strengths of families; and |
| (l) |
addressing the particular needs of families in their diverse forms. |
| 7. |
Accessibility of early intervention programmes |
Early intervention programmes must be—
| (a) |
developmental in approach; |
| (b) |
affordable in relation to the community and the service user to whom the programme is being administered; |
| (c) |
accessible to everyone in the community who needs the programme, including people with disabilities; |
| (d) |
appropriate in terms of methodology that is being used; |
| (e) |
in line with different age groups of the community and be age specific with special focus on children; |
| (f) |
provided in the language the community or each service user clearly understands; |
| (g) |
culturally sensitive taking into account the diversity of the population of the community concerned and the socio-cultural attitudes and stereotypes around drinking and substance use; |
| (h) |
gender sensitive and appropriate in understanding stereotypes around substance abuse and gender issue; |
| (i) |
religiously conscious by recognising various types of religious denominations and their attitudes towards substance use; |
| (j) |
sensitive of the service user's level of knowledge and understanding of substances; |
| (k) |
provided by a multi-disciplinary team which must consist of— |
| (ii) |
a medical practitioner; |
| (iii) |
a social worker; and |
and may include—
| (l) |
directed at service users misusing or consuming substances at risky levels; |
| (m) |
aimed at service users displaying early signs of some dependency on substances; |
| (n) |
focused on service users who present with substance related injuries; and |
| (o) |
aimed at children at risk of substance abuse in any environment. |
Older Persons Act, 2006
