Drug and Substance Abuse
Disucss about the Occupational Health Management Plan.
Drug and substance abuse is one of the leading hazardous trend in the world. Substance and drug abuse is basically the use of illegal drugs. Besides, it also refers to the use of alcohol, medications in a manner not prescribed for. Substance and addiction are different in a way that individuals with abuse problems can quit the habit but addiction on the other hand is a disease which implies difficulty in ceasing of the said substance (Des Jarlais, Kerr, Carrieri, Feelemyer, & Arasteh, 2016). Some of the most commonly abused drugs include alcohol, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, as well as cigarettes. Some of the symptoms to substance abuse include changing friends, eating more or less than normal, ceasing in taking care of oneself, sleeping at odd hours as well having difficulty in interacting with family members. Drug and substance abuse is rampant in institutions of higher learning due to the minimal supervision of the students as well as peer influence.
The workplace in this case is a University where the freedom associated with students as well as peer influence and minimal supervision force most of the students engage in the Injectable Drug use. The workers of the institution are also prone to the hazard. The number and gender in such an environment is not definitive but it is significant to be of concern.
Drugs can cause severe damage to individuals who abuse them. Besides affecting someone, they can as well affect the lives of people around those who use the drugs. It is due to this harmful nature of drugs that they are classified as occupational hazards. The worst damage is done to those are totally addicted to the drugs. There are different phases of addiction: Tolerance, psychological dependence, physical dependence and finally addiction. Tolerance refers to the ability to need more of the drug to achieve the desired effect (Lazarus et al., 2018). Psychological dependence on the other hand refers to the inability to function properly when not under the influence of the drug you are used to. Physical dependence refers to the state of the body going through very strong withdrawal symptoms when one ceases using the particular drug. Such symptoms include seizures, vomiting and shaking. Drugs that can subject one to withdrawal symptoms include alcohol, heroin as benzodiazepines.
Losing health is one of the biggest risk associated with use of drugs. According to research, drug addiction is known to cause the following health problems: A rapid heart rate that is brought about by addiction to cocaine, marijuana as well as meth. Heart failure is also another health issue that is brought about as a result of excessive use of cocaine and meth (Philbin & FuJie, 2014). Drug use can also result to blood borne infections due to sharing injectable devices like needles. Such infections include hepatitis and HIV. High blood pressure also result from the use of cocaine and meth. Other health effects of drugs include impotency and infertility, loss of learning and memory issues particularly brought about by marijuana and damages to the liver as a result of marijuana as well(Sherman et al., 2015). Psychosis, respiratory depression as well as coma and seizures are also serious health problems associated with the use of drugs.
The Workplace and University
The related risk exposure in this case is as a result of the materials used. The materials used in this case are needles that can cause spread of blood borne infections like Hepatitis and HIV.
At the moment there are different management measures to curb the effects or harm associated with Injectable drug users. One such measure include rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is the attempts to convert addicts back to their normal status through civic education and engaging them in other activities (Platt et al., 2016). This is not an effective measure since from the statistics by the World Health Organizations, there has been no significant improvement in the transmission of the blood borne infections like HIV and diabetes. Another measure has been the crackdown on the drug users by different governments where drug users are arrested and persecuted (Nazari et al., 2016). This is in fact the worst move by the governments as the drug users go in hideouts and still manage to share the needles. Another measure is through education forums in the community where drug users are educated on how to fight addiction. This is a very expensive measure and since the society has a negative perception on drug addicts, rarely do they come out to attend the sessions (“Needle Exchange Programs‘ Status in US Politics,” 2016). Besides, all this measures are very expensive and that is why the need for the Needle Exchange program. Another current measure has been the treatment of drug dependency just like other chronic conditions like Diabetes and In.This measure however is ineffective since it absolves drug users of their responsibilities to their situation.
Since the current measures have had no significant improvement in terms of reducing transmission of blood borne infections among the Injectable Drug Users, there is need for change and try out this new management plan of the Needle Exchange Program since it has already shown signs of improvement among those States that have implemented the plan.
Being in possession of any needle without the prescription was a crime in most states. This could therefore lead to the arrest of many people as they leave the private needle exchange facility. However, after the epidemiological findings indicated that the Needle Exchange program was full of promise, many governments did opt out of the arrests (Fernandes et al., 2017). The trend has been convincing since as of 2006, 48 states have so far authorized the Needle Exchange Programs. As of 2012 at least 35 states had legalized possession of needles while other countries did exempt beneficiaries of the Needle Exchange Program from arrests.
Harmful Effects of Drugs
This management involves a lot of ethical considerations. Since drugs are harmful in nature, it is expected from the society that healthcare professions should be in the fore front to fight against the vice. However, in this case, it is the healthcare profession who is supplying needles to addicts so that they can go on with the same vice. This is unethical from the society perspective. From the healthcare profession on the other side, it is ethical since it is reducing the chances of blood borne infections like hepatitis and HIV.
Since the drug and substance abuse menace is here to stay, the only solution is to work on how to limit the effects. The best management plan in this case is the Needle Exchange program whose objective is to reduce the spread of blood borne infections like Hepatitis and HIV.
The needle exchange program is a form of social service whereby drug users are allowed to get needles and other injection paraphernalia at little or no cost at all. It is based on the principle of reducing the overall effect of drugs by cutting down the risk factors of blood borne infections like Hepatitis and HIV (Strathdee & Beyrer, 2015). However, the same program dictates that for one to get new needles, they have to return an equal number of the used needles.
According to reports by the World Health Organization back in 2004, The Needle Exchange programs have effectively reduced the spread of HIV at a very low cost especially among the Injectable Drug Users (Des Jarlais et al., 2015). The findings from the World Health Organization did intermarry with those of the American Medical Association which in 2000, was of the same idea of the Needle Exchange Program coupled with addiction counselling.
For effective harm among the Injectable Drug Users, there has to be an assumption that it is not actually sense for individuals to make healthy decisions. According to several advocates, individuals who find themselves trapped within the unruly behaviors of drug and substance abuse find it hard to break away from such and as a result, they should be given a chance to go on with the exercise but the harm should be minimized in a manner less harmful.
The Needle Exchange Program basically are in support of the health and the well-being of drug addicts by creating awareness, educating them and empowering them. Besides providing sterile needles to the Injectable Drug Users, the Needle Exchange program provides additional services like Hepatitis and HIV testing (Bramson et al., 2015). The program also provides cotton swabs that the IDUs use to sterile their place of injections to avoid other bacterial infections (Wilson, Donald, Shattock, Wilson, & Fraser-Hurt, 2015). Other items provided include bleach water as well as normal saline and the citric acid powder which assists heroin to dissolve in water (Smith et al., 2016). According to a survey that was carried out by the Beth Israel Medical Center that is located in New York, 77% of the Needle Exchange Program did provide material abuse therapy while 72% did offer guidance and counselling services as well as HIV testing services (Gyarmathy et al., 2016). The survey also established that more than two thirds did provide supplies like bleach, alcohol pads as well as the male and the female condoms.
Current Management Measures
Another advantage of the Needle Exchange Program is that it offers a conducive way in which used needles and syringes can be disposed. Initially, the IDUs dispose the used material into the environment like rivers which has potential of infecting other people (Barocas, Linas, Kim, Fangman, & Westergaard, 2016). With these program however, the used needles are returned back to the suppliers who understand proper protocol on how to get rid of the harmful materials.
Since this is a management plan, the objective is to reduce the chances of blood borne infections spreading from one Injectable drug user to the next. We realize that of all the risks associated with drug and substance abuse, blood borne infections are by far the most severe compared to others like seizures, vomiting which can easily be corrected(Luo et al., 2014). The overall goal of this management plan therefore is not to reduce drug abuse since it is a very cumbersome exercise rather to reduce on the harm associated with the abuse.
To effectively implement this management plan, several activities will have to be put in place. One such activity is first identifying the injectable drug users. This can be achieved through reaching out to the community and seeking the affected individuals. After the Injectable Drug Users have been identified, they have to be educated on the importance of the Needle Exchange Program. Education can take the form of demonstrations.
To effectively monitor this program, syringes or rather new needles will have to be labelled to find out if indeed the Injectable drug users are returning the used ones or they are just picking some old syringes along the road and getting them back for new ones. With Evaluation, this one involves conducting CD4 counts in those addicts who are already positive for the HIV virus. In case the viral load goes up, then this simply means that the plan is not working efficiently. Evaluation can as well be done through frequent HIV tests at the facility. If the incidences of the condition are relatively low, then this implies that the plan is successful.
Conclusion
Drug and substance is one of the leading and commonly found occupational Hazard though ignored by many healthcare professional. Drugs like cigarettes are in circulation and this affects both the drug users and not since smokes moves by air. Other drugs are introduced to the body by the use of needles. The use of needles by injectable drug users possess a serious issue since sharing needles increase the risk of blood-borne infections like hepatitis and HIV. The debacle of encouraging individual or rather addicts to quit the habit has on several moments hit a snag since the affected individuals often suffer from withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, vomiting and headaches. The best alternative therefore is to reduce the impact or rather the harm among the Injectable Drug users. This can be achieved through setting up what we call Needle Exchange Program. This is a social service where IDUs are provided with same number of new syringes once they hand over the used ones. This program is however faced with the legal and ethical challenges like arrest if found in possession of prescribed syringes in some countries. The ethical part of the program is that it is not ethical at all to give allowance or room for an individual to be exposed to drugs since we all know the harmful nature of the drugs. Going by statistics however, the Needle Exchange Program has already shown significant signs of reducing harm among injectable drug users and should soldier on.
The Needle Exchange Program
References
Barocas, J. A., Linas, B. P., Kim, A. Y., Fangman, J., & Westergaard, R. P. (2016). Acceptability of Rapid Point-of-Care Hepatitis C Tests Among People Who Inject Drugs and Utilize Syringe-Exchange Programs: Table 1. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 3(2), ofw075. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofw075
Bramson, H., Des Jarlais, D. C., Arasteh, K., Nugent, A., Guardino, V., Feelemyer, J., & Hodel, D. (2015). State laws, syringe exchange, and HIV among persons who inject drugs in the United States: History and effectiveness. Journal of Public Health Policy, 36(2), 212-230. doi:10.1057/jphp.2014.54
Des Jarlais, D. C., Kerr, T., Carrieri, P., Feelemyer, J., & Arasteh, K. (2016). HIV infection among persons who inject drugs. AIDS, 30(6), 815-826. doi:10.1097/qad.0000000000001039
Des Jarlais, D. C., Nugent, A., Solberg, A., Feelemyer, J., Mermin, J., & Holtzman, D. (2015). Syringe Service Programs for Persons Who Inject Drugs in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas — United States, 2013. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 64(48), 1337-1341. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6448a3
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Gyarmathy, V. A., Csák, R., Bálint, K., Bene, E., Varga, A. E., Varga, M., … Rácz, J. (2016). A needle in the haystack – the dire straits of needle exchange in Hungary. BMC Public Health, 16(1). doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2842-2
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Platt, L., Reed, J., Minozzi, S., Vickerman, P., Hagan, H., French, C., … Hickman, M. (2016). Effectiveness of needle/syringe programmes and opiate substitution therapy in preventing HCV transmission among people who inject drugs. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. doi:10.1002/14651858.cd012021
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Strathdee, S. A., & Beyrer, C. (2015). Threading the Needle — How to Stop the HIV Outbreak in Rural Indiana. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(5), 397-399. doi:10.1056/nejmp1507252
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