SO MUCH is being said about the drug problem. What's being done? This community-based program established within a locality can be operated by a small group or committee entrusted by the locals and the local government.
They will capitalize the available resources in the community and this support program, which functions as a social institution, will be based on voluntary, self-sufficient and self-sustaining concepts.
This is not easy because a community-based drug demand reduction program (DDRP) and recovery support needs to provide a system for the prevention, treatment, support and the needed aftercare services to members of the community.
Aside from that, it should lessen the impact of the drug abuse problem in the community and create a drug-free living environment.
This is why the New Day Recovery Center (NDRC) developed a program to strengthen the community’s awareness of the dangers of drugs and to advocate for a drug-free locality.
“We want to provide accurate, scientific, and updated information about drug addiction and its intervention,” Jerry Joseph Valderrama, the addiction program director, said.
As an international certified addiction professional and a recovery coach, Valderrama said they want to help prevent the high-risk groups from yielding to powerful drug forces.
The high risk groups are those already exposed in drug use and those selling illegal drugs or involved in illegal drug trade.
“We would like to help by intervening and motivating local drug dependents to seek proper treatment and rehabilitation,” he added.
The municipalities of Talacogon in Agusan del Sur and Baclayon in Bohol have started and adopted the community-based DDRP after they were trained by the NDRC team headed by Valderrama and Dr. Miriam Cue, the chairperson of the Professional Regulatory Board of Psychology. Talacogon and Baclayon have created working groups and they now have ongoing capacity building.
They have started the screening process and giving of interventions. Dr. Cue said it is their goal to destigmatize community members against addiction.
“Let us strengthen the understanding and compassion of community members towards drug users so that they can help in their change journey,” she added.
Dr. Cue said the community-based (CB) DDRP attracts extensive community participation in various capacities to address the drug problem in the locality.
Through this, we can build and help create a healthy and drug-free living environment.
Developing community-based recovery support systems
The organizing of the operating or working committee and the drafting of drug-free policies is one of the components of CB-DDRP.
A drug-free community policy can help the community establish a clear message that substance abuse is prohibited. It will encourage members of the community to support one another in the fight against drugs and the speedy recovery and reintegration of those affected.
At the same time, it will inspire affected community members who have problems with addiction to seek help and intervention.
Consequently, this will protect the health and safety of the public, lessen criminal activities, and safeguard properties of the public and the community.
The working team, however, must understand the different components of the drug-free community program and their distinct roles in its implementation.
So to facilitate and promote recovery, it is important for communities to understand best practices in peer and community-based interventions.
This is why the NDRC, together with International Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals, Psychological Association of the Philippines and Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Program, developed a five-day training for evidence-based approaches.
The training also offers credentialing to enhance the technical capacity of drug demand reduction practitioners globally both in prevention and treatment, thereby raising the quality and standard of prevention and treatment services.
Two tracks are given for the training. Track 1, headed by Valderrama, focuses on developing community-based recovery supports systems. Track 2, headed by Dr. Cue, tackles screening, assessment, treatment planning and documentation for addiction professionals.
The team has conducted the five-day training entitled Embrace, Rebuild, and Empower last November 21 to 25 attended by participants coming from Manila, Cebu, Dagupan, Bohol and almost all provinces of Mindanao. They will be having another set of five-day training on January 9 to 13, 2017 at NDRC, focusing on the basic understanding on the way addictive substances work in the brain and how recovery occurs.
Participants will be able to know the several pathways to recovery and how community-based systems and services can illuminate these paths. They will also discuss the value of strength-based approaches toward recovery and the key concepts like recovery management and recovery-oriented systems of care.
Participants will be learning a lot more. With the strengthening of community-based programs like this, the prevalence of drugs in the community will surely reduce.