Drugs assessment
Definition:
Drugs Assessment is a set of instruments/tools to review the client's situation and of a development of the clients drugs problem. The outcome of the assessment enables the assesser to indicate efective individual strategy for interventions and to offer a client relevant options to services.
Important!:
To work with or support client's motivation it is necessary that the client is able to decide on what steps he/she wants to take
To assess the client's situation effectively and indicate/offer the right intervention we need to have:
• Expert knowledge about drugs and it's effects
• Knowledge about drugs services (existing), their procedures and indications to them.
• Knowledge about assassment of mental health
• Knowledge about drugs assessment
• Knowledge about possible models of drugs interventions
1. Assassment of the clients history of drug use
age
frequency, Kontext
Drug
way of use life events
2. Stages of development of drugs problem (daptation from Dr. Jellinek - Amsterdam 1930's)
■
I
Experimental
Occasional control use
Occasional use with periods of loose control - compulsive use (periods)
•   Problematic drug use
Chronicle use
3. Social situation
Family, partner, housing, legal problems, education and/or wroking skills, risk behavior assessment - drug/sex
4. Stages of the awareness of client's own situation
Meditative stage
Premeditative stage
Stage of decision making
Stage of action
Maintenence stage
5. What models of work we have to employ:
• Medical - Pharmaceutical therapy
• Counseling, therapeutic interventions - emotional support work with personal issues - work with a change of scenarios in once personal life - especially work with client's feelings - it does not always mean abstinence oriented help
• Social work - asistence in social interactions/structure and social context (family, friends, housing, job situation, legal problems, etc)
• Educative -  educative/pedagogical activities and programs - information giving, work with behavioral issues
• Self-support - exusers a self support groups - through sparing self experience helping with the motivation