Prevention

Prevention of Substance Abuse
Name
Institution
Prevention of Substance Abuse
The last time I recall being offered material on substance abuse prevention I was 12 years old. I remember people from a certain non-governmental organization had visited our school to educate us about substance abuse.  However, I feel that the program was not quite effective at that time since the information that we were provided with was not reinforced. These people only came once, and they did not follow up to see the progress. As a result, despite the effort of creating awareness and even providing printed copies of information on substance abuse, I saw some of my classmates becoming drug addicts and dropping out of school eventually. Nonetheless, nowadays, drug abuse prevention has improved and especially in my community, Arlington Texas. For instance, various rehabilitation centers ensure that drug addicts do not go back to their old habits. A good example is the Millwood hospital that provides comprehensive services that range from diagnosis, counseling, partial hospitalization, daily treatment, and holistic rehabilitation.
 Another community program is the Phoenix Associate counseling services Inc. that offers outpatient education on substance abuse. Counseling sessions are also open to individuals and families (Phoenix Associates Counseling Services Inc., 2018). As a result, these programs have helped reduce the problem of substance abuse significantly in my community.
Although substance abuse prevention programs have done a great job dealing with the problem of drug abuse in Arlington community, there is still more that needs to be done.

  As social workers, we need to collaborate with governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as the local government to build a strong outreach network within the community (Meads et al., 2008). By doing this, we will be able to source funds that are enough to sustain our programs. More so working as a team will enable us to brainstorm various way of eliminating the problem in the community by allowing everyone to contribute to the common goal. Also, working collaboratively will allow us to reach out to more schools, families, and individuals living in Arlington, Texas. Some of the programs that would work best in my community include the creation of awareness about substance abuse among the young and the old, media campaigns and restricting access to drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, especially among young children and adolescents. All these programs should be accompanied by family and school interventions to make them more effective.
References
Phoenix Associates Counseling Services Inc. (2018). Tarrant.tx.networkofcare.org.Retrieved from http://tarrant.tx.networkofcare.org/ps/services/agency.aspx?pid=PhoenixAssociatesCounselingServicesIncPhoenixAssociatesCounselingServicesIncArlingtonSubstanceAbuse_993_12_0
Meads, G., Ashcroft, J., Barr, H., Scott, R., & Wild, A. (2008). The case for interprofessional collaboration: In health and social care. John Wiley & Sons.