How to Use Case Management for Substance Abuse

Case management is a good approach for treating drug addiction because substance abusers have significant problems besides addiction. According to the National Library of Medicine, around 70 percent of people treated for substance abuse will experience a lifetime history of dealing with depression. There is a difference between treating addiction and providing community resources to a substance abuser. Case Management constitutes a set of tasks to help drug addicts gain access to resources to help with overcoming drug addiction. If not, this leads to acts such as committing crimes and hurting love ones.

Instructions

• 1

  Evaluate clients with a substance abuse assessment. Substance abusers will become the client of a case manager when entering treatment. A case manager acts to explore a client's needs, wants, strengths, skills and deficits. When a client enters treatment, the client will go through a drug treatment program and have their needs evaluate for community resources. Treating drug addiction involves receiving therapy for psychological problems, substance abuse and family dysfunction. After evaluating the substance abuser's needs, the case manager will also design a community resource plan to address those needs in an efficient manner.

• 2

  Make a plan to overcome obstacles in society. People working to overcome drug addiction will need help with repairing relationships, finding employment and obtaining housing. According to Psychiatry Online, the implementation of case management in the United States has lead to more substance abusers completing their drug treatment. The focus of case management assessment prepares substance abusers to become productive citizens and to avoid old habits.

• 3

  Identify goals to accomplish. Planning, goal-setting and implementation form the foundation of case management. The case manager and the client will identify goals to accomplish using a community resource plan while recovering from addiction. The community resource plan consists of goals, strategies and objectives. Break goals down into smaller steps to make them easier.

• 4

  Take action to reach goals. Recovering substance abusers also need to take action and participate in new activities to reach their goals. The transition to attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings and finding a job can be stressful. Substance abusers may struggle with relapsing when attempting to enter back into society. Some of the struggles involve mastering basic skills for functioning in the community, learning to budget, being a parent and maintaining a home. Case management must endeavor to a plan in place for community reentry and aftercare.

• 5

  Provide resources and a referral list to recovering addicts. Many substance abusers have access to social services but don't understand how to effectively use the service. Linking, monitoring and advocacy are important factors of case management when providing resources to recovering drug addicts. Substance abusers have a referral list of resources available but linking goes beyond a referral list. Case managers are expected to provide a network of contacts and resources that fit the needs of their client.

• 6

  Encourage clients to make a commitment to using resources. The client needs to make a commitment to contact the resource and take advantage of the help. After contacting the resource, case managers need to monitor the relationship between client and resource. If you find any improvements or problems, then the case manager will have to adjust the service plan to reflect the change. This can lead to taking additional steps on the behalf of the client and speaking out. Advocacy occurs when a recovering substance abuser is denied services despite meeting the requirements. Client advocacy must work to provide recovering substance abusers with the necessary resources to overcome addiction.