Community Resource Assignment Essay Paper

Identify where meetings are held, how often and how this information is available to the community

The alcoholic anonymous (AA) meetings were held in the local community hall, with the meetings conducted twice weekly. Information about the meetings is spread by word of mouth and posters about the meeting location and times.

Who can access these meetings?

The AA meetings are informal and open to the public. In fact, there is no sign up and persons who want to attend the meetings simply need to show up, take a seat and listen to the stories attendees narrate about their experiencing with drinking alcohol and the recovery process. Attendees can talk to others or can choose to keep to themselves until they feel more comfortable to talk. Although there are no charges for attendees, a collection is taken at the end of each meeting to cover the costs of refreshment, rental the community hall, and clerical tasks such as printing posters. There is no obligation for the attendees to make a contribution.

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Interview two or more addiction counselors in your designated community

What are the educational requirements to be an addictions counselor?

Addiction counselors are trained as substance abuse counselors who present as mental health professionals with the responsibility of helping patients struggling with addiction. Their main responsibility is to work with patients and family members to promote mental health while treating emotional and mental disorders. The specific work activities include collaborating with other medical personnel to evaluate patients, interviewing and assessing patients, writing evaluations and reports, and maintaining patient records. The educational requirements are at least an associate’s degree (two-year degree program) in counseling or psychology covering the basics of working as an addiction treatment counselor and treating patients. The course content must cover topics on psychology, multicultural counseling, group and family counseling, case management, and theories of counseling (Cooper & Gosnell, 2015). A bachelor’s degree is a requirement for some employers as this level of education offers in-depth understanding of topics on psychopharmacology and pharmacology, addiction psychology and sociology, diagnosis of behavioral and chemical dependency, psychological evaluations and assessments, and individual and group counseling. Also, some employers prefer a master’s degree as the topics covered allow for concentrated focus to include treatment methods for alcohol and drug abuse, assessment, counseling and diagnosis of an individual, contemporary topics on substance abuse, and methods and techniques of group counseling (Townsend & Morgan, 2018).  Community Resource Assignment Essay Paper

What was the reason the person chose to work with people with addictions?

The interviewee presented four reasons for working with persons with addiction. The first reason is job growth as there are more people who are suffering from addiction and this implies that future work opportunities are almost guaranteed. It offers job security and the opportunity to help the growing population of alcohol addicts. The second reason is that it offers is an opportunity to work in a diverse range of workplaces such as halfway houses, detention centers, prisons, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals. The third reason is that the addict had a personal experience with addiction having known persons affected by addiction and how addiction counseling helped the situation. The fourth reason is the desire to change and improve the lives of others. Addiction presents a risk of damaging personal relationships and the body resulting in consequences to the individual and others in the same environment. Recovery from the addiction implies an opportunity to improve life in terms of repairing personal relationships and professional life.

What is the counselor’s observations about the role of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or Gamblers Anonymous as a resource for individuals with addiction disorders?

AA presents a forum in which alcohol addicts get to share their hope, strengths and experiences with each other thereby allowing them to solve common problems and help each other recover. It acts as a support group that helps former alcoholics to support each other in the recovery process while maintaining sobriety. As a resource, AA helps former alcoholics to access a social resource that supports them in recovery (Townsend & Morgan, 2018).

What is the counselor’s experience in working with nurses as members of the healthcare team in addressing individuals with addiction disorders?

Nurses play a primary role in recognizing the signs of alcohol abuse/misuse and referring patients to the resource centers where they receive the appropriate assessment and intervention. Besides that, they help with dispelling the fear of care that some patients exhibit thus encouraging alcoholics to receive the appropriate care (Cooper & Gosnell, 2015).

Apply your nursing knowledge to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of this particular resource.

AA meetings are an important and useful resource for addressing alcoholism. The meetings are centered around voluntariness, social supports, and social interactions that offer former alcoholics emotional support and practical tips on how to address different situations and concerns. Through its discussion format, AA meetings allow attendees to explore the problems affecting them and identify the most effective solutions based on the solutions that have worked for others facing similar problems (Cooper & Gosnell, 2015).

References

Cooper, K., & Gosnell, K. (2015). Foundations and Adult Health Nursing (7^th ed.). Elsevier.

Townsend, M., & Morgan, K. (2018). Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Concepts of Care in Evidence-Based Practice (9^th ed.). F.A. Davis Company.  Community Resource Assignment Essay Paper