[Regulations 9 and 13]
| 1. | Prevention of harm from substance abuse |
An early intervention programme must provide for—
| (a) | immediate counselling; or |
| (b) | referral for professional intervention. |
| 2. | Screening for substance abuse |
An early intervention programme must include—
| (b) | preliminary assessment, |
as part of the screening of a person and the family of a person who uses substances.
The screening process referred to in item 1(b) must involve—
| (a) | identification of the type or types of substances that have been used and length of period during which the substance have been used; |
| (b) | a provisional psychiatric diagnosis that determines if the person concerned has a substance dependency and the likelihood of other co-morbid conditions; |
| (c) | the determination of the severity of substance abuse; |
| (d) | a brief social history and needs assessment of the person including— |
| (ii) | socio-economic challenges; |
| (e) | taking the age of a child who is subject to screening into consideration and informing parents or caregivers about the results of assessment; and |
| (f) | providing feedback on the results of screening process. |
| 4. | Motivation of persons using substances |
An early intervention programme must motivate a person using substances and his or her family to participate in the programme by imparting—
| (a) | information on treatment gains; and |
| (b) | knowledge on the consequences of substance use. |
| 5. | Maintaining family and community ties |
An early intervention programme must encourage the maintenance of family and community ties by—
| (a) | out-patient treatment services or community-based services; and |
| (b) | support services and linking persons and their families with available resources. |
| 6. | Keeping families intact |
An early intervention programme must be aimed at keeping the family of a person using substances intact by—
| (a) | identifying and assessing— |
towards persons abusing substances and service users;
| (b) | assessing the family's level of knowledge and understanding about issues related to— |
| (ii) | economic self reliance; and |
| (c) | developing a family preservation plan with the involvement of service users and family; |
| (i) | family's perceptions; |
by providing them with information and facts about substance abuse and its effects;
| (e) | encouraging forgiveness and co-operation amongst family members through individual and family counselling; |
| (f) | empowering families with parenting and family management knowledge and skills by referring them to relevant agencies; |
| (g) | equipping parents and families with knowledge and skills to identify and deal with early warning signs of experimentation and use of substances; |
| (h) | creating social and economic opportunities aimed at improving service user's and family's self-reliance by linking them with social and economic development agencies; |
| (i) | encouraging service users and families to participate in— |
| (iii) | cultural activities, |
and promote healthy eating habits and safe sex practices;
| (j) | improving the well-being and resilience of families; |
| (k) | exploiting the strengths of families; and |
| (l) | addressing the particular needs of families in their diverse forms. |
| 7. | Accessibility of early intervention programmes |
Early intervention programmes must be—
| (a) | developmental in approach; |
| (b) | affordable in relation to the community and the service user to whom the programme is being administered; |
| (c) | accessible to everyone in the community who needs the programme, including people with disabilities; |
| (d) | appropriate in terms of methodology that is being used; |
| (e) | in line with different age groups of the community and be age specific with special focus on children; |
| (f) | provided in the language the community or each service user clearly understands; |
| (g) | culturally sensitive taking into account the diversity of the population of the community concerned and the socio-cultural attitudes and stereotypes around drinking and substance use; |
| (h) | gender sensitive and appropriate in understanding stereotypes around substance abuse and gender issue; |
| (i) | religiously conscious by recognising various types of religious denominations and their attitudes towards substance use; |
| (j) | sensitive of the service user's level of knowledge and understanding of substances; |
| (k) | provided by a multi-disciplinary team which must consist of— |
| (ii) | a medical practitioner; |
| (iii) | a social worker; and |
and may include—
| (l) | directed at service users misusing or consuming substances at risky levels; |
| (m) | aimed at service users displaying early signs of some dependency on substances; |
| (n) | focused on service users who present with substance related injuries; and |
| (o) | aimed at children at risk of substance abuse in any environment. |
