Transcript Stigma and Drug Misuse

Vivienne Evans
Chief Executive
Adfam
www.adfam.org.
uk
Families, Drugs and Alcohol
• There are up to 7 million people in England that are
affected by someone problematic drug or alcohol use.
• Between 250,000-350,000 children are affected by
parental drug use and up to 2 million children are
affected by parental alcohol use.
• c.150,000 family members are affected – either directly
or indirectly – by drug activity in prison at any one time.
• Research shows that involving families can improve
engagement of users in treatment and can improve
outcomes – not only for the user but the family as a
whole.
www.adfam.org.
uk
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Adfam’s Mission
Adfam is the voice of families affected
by someone else’s drug or alcohol use,
the leading national organisation
providing support, information and
services for these families.
www.adfam.org.
uk
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Adfam’s key activities
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Informing
We provide a wide range of information to families to help equip them to
manage their situation. We also offer opinion and evidence to professionals
and government to influence policy.
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Challenging
Using information gathered directly from families, and from research and
evaluation findings, we challenge and influence policy/decision makers and
the media to understand and represent more accurately the issues affecting
families of drug and alcohol users.
•
Supporting
We run direct services to families coming into contact with the criminal
justice system and provide training and consultancy to help family agencies,
community groups and the statutory sector to improve their ability to help
their local communities.
www.adfam.org.
uk
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Why engaging families
matters
• Families are identified as one of the pathways in
the National Reducing Reoffending Action Plan
• With the increased overlap of DIP and NOMS
work Models of Care is having a greater impact.
• One of the new quality requirements for drug set
out by Updated Models of Care 2006 states that
treatment providers must ensure that partners,
families and children should be provided with
support in their own right in order reduce the
overall drug related harms.
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uk
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Impact on families
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Social
Physical
Psychological
Financial
How do families respond?
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uk
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Needs of families
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Coping with stigma
Accessing services
Being involved in treatment
Range of support services
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uk
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Why involve families?
• Personal
• Strategic
• Economic
Why not?
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uk
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Adfam’s Criminal
Justice Work
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Prisons
Drug Intervention Programme
Young People
Parenting
Training
Consultancy
www.adfam.org.
uk
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Adfam’s prison work
HMP Holloway
One full time support worker
HMP Peterborough
Two full time support workers
HMP Brixton
One full time support workers
Greenwhich and Southwark DIP
Adfam counsellor working as part of the DIP teams
Somali Project
Providing specific help to the Somali community and will be
active at HMYOI and RC Feltham
www.adfam.org.
uk
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Case Studies from Adfam
Holloway
An imprisoned drug user asked us to contact her mother
who was looking after her daughter. The mother was at the
end of her tether and not willing to give her imprisoned
daughter another chance.
Through our continuous support and mediation the user
engaged in several courses in prison, looking at drug use
and resettlement. The mother felt more positive regarding
her daughter’s new focus and considered letting her
daughter come home on a Home Detention Curfew. The
daughter was released and both parties felt supported and
their needs addressed giving them another chance to
sustain the user’s treatment and family life.
www.adfam.org.
uk
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Case Studies from Adfam
Holloway
An 18-year old user, who underwent an alcohol
detox in prison, was placed on suicide watch and
was very tearful, disturbed, distressed. She was
unwilling to engage in any support.
The inmate referred her mother to the Adfam team
for support. It came to light that her mother had in
fact given birth to the inmate in the very same
prison. This explained why she had been so
distressed and the information aided in her case
management, resulting in her being give end the
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appropriate
www.adfam.org. support.
uk
Challenges and
Opportunities
• What works?
• What doesn’t?
• Where next?
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uk
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