Drugs and Substance Abuse Within the City of Melbourne

Introduction

The drug and substance abuse problem is a significant issue in the global healthcare system, and its addressing at the local level is an essential contribution to the work aimed to improve people’s health. As an example of specific target activity, the programs and policies of the City of Melbourne are reviewed, which is an important administrative center located in Victoria. The relevance of preventive measures is assessed by using the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, in particular, its three action areas, which address healthcare system priorities. These areas are strengthening community actions, reorienting health services, and building healthy public policies. This work is a group project, and the following participants are involved in the research: LIST THE NAMES.

Build Healthy Public Policy

To build healthy public policies and address pressing issues, different interested parties need to be involved. Concerning the issue in question, the key stakeholders are healthcare providers and legislators who collaborate to organize effective support programs. About the drug and substance abuse problem in the City of Melbourne, assistance to vulnerable populations is provided due to expanded access to treatment services (“Alcohol and other drug treatment services,” 2017). According to Borschmann et al. (2018), as one of the essential areas of work, interaction with young people has been established to prevent the development of dangerous addictions. In addition, as Scott et al. (2016) state, the work is conducted to remove barriers to obtaining care, for instance, mental disorders or other health problems, and interventions are developed to simplify the treatment process. These measures are taken by the medical community of the City of Melbourne to build effective public policies and help citizens.

Legislators also make the necessary efforts to create an appropriate regulatory framework and help the medical community provide valuable assistance to people suffering from the drug and substance abuse problem. In particular, Petty and Young (2020) mention an official program aimed to reduce the rate of homelessness in the community in question, thereby preventing the spread of the issue among the population. As crucial measures, financial assistance to healthcare facilities is provided, and control programs are designed to coordinate the problem formally and responsibly. Moreover, as Ryan et al. (2018) note, the authorities of the City of Melbourne respond to requests for help from different people with distinctive cultural, financial and social backgrounds. Such targeted work is productive and potentially effective in the context of the problem under consideration and its implications for the health of the citizens of the community.

Strengthen Community Actions

To address the drug and substance abuse problem in the City of Melbourne, strengthening community actions is a valuable objective as a factor contributing to maintaining interaction with the population. In the community in question, specialised counselling services are offered to citizens as assistance in dealing with the health issue (“Drug and alcohol counseling,” 2020). When communicating with patients, healthcare providers also assess family histories since negative family backgrounds may be considered social risk factors (Kinner et al., 2015). In addition, at the hospital level, valuable interventions are undertaken to minimise the risks of the problem, such as the ongoing monitoring of patients with substance poisoning or pill testing (“Medically supervised injecting centers,” 2020). With the availability of resources to provide assistance, these measures are relevant and important. As a result, specific practical activities are undertaken to strengthen community actions.

In addition to the aforementioned interventions, ideological work is also carried out among vulnerable populations. According to Ogloff et al. (2017), at the community level, healthcare providers disseminate useful information about what the drug and substance abuse problem is fraught with and what complications it may cause. Moreover, as Williams et al. (2015) argue, one of the strengths of this work is the organisation of educational programs that include curricula for citizens belonging to vulnerable categories. This allows involving people in joint learning to combat addictions and address the problem effectively at a group level. Finally, as a productive measure, promoting open communication is an incentive that helps interact with those who need help. Both healthcare providers and legislators look for relevant ways to create the conditions for addressing the drug and substance abuse problem effectively, thereby strengthening community actions.

Reorient Health Services

The action area related to reorienting health services involves implementing practical measures to reduce the likelihood of the drug and substance abuse problem in the City of Melbourne. In particular, as one of the interventions, Cunningham (2019) mentions the work on quality control over pharmaceuticals to reduce the number of hospital admissions diagnosed with substance intoxication. Qualified assistance to the population requires creating special conditions and environment for care, and health services are reorganised in the community by engaging professional specialists to address the problem of the target audience (“Drugs and substance abuse,” 2020). Such activities imply maintaining constant communication and providing conditions for productive interaction. As Finnell et al. (2019) note, partnerships with the public are established through the introduction of patient-centred care provisions as one of the principles of care. This approach is the key to effective treatment and preventive measures.

Engaging healthcare employees to help the population of the community is carried out to not only provide direct assistance but also influence psychologically. According to Latkin et al. (2017), one of the goals healthcare providers need to achieve is performing the activities to change drug user stigma through continuous and open communication. Interaction with patients and their families is an important aspect of work to minimise the drug and substance abuse problem in the community in question and convey to citizens the danger of complications. In order to realise these objectives, employees’ qualifications need to be appropriate. In this regard, the state government recruits nursing staff to ensure the ongoing monitoring of patients with confirmed addictions (Victoria State Government, 2018). Therefore, stimulating the improvement of the professional training of medical personnel is a prerequisite for reorienting health services.

Conclusion

As the issue raised, the drug and substance abuse problem in the City of Melbourne is described. As a guideline to perform this group analysis, the three action areas of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion are involved. The areas included in the discussion are strengthening community actions, reorienting health services and building healthy public policies. Addressing the issue in question locally consists in involving the necessary resources and practical measures aimed to influence the target population, in particular, young citizens, who are a vulnerable category. The participation of healthcare providers and legislators is an important collaborative practice to create an environment for patient-centred care and implement preventive measures to maintain a productive environment for communication with patients and their families.

References

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