Behavioral Health Prevention Program on Alcoholism

Behavioral Health Program
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Behavioral Health Program on Alcoholism: Part 1
Description
Excessive alcohol consumption has various adverse effects on the individual, including physical, mental, and social well-being. This concept includes the following: First, binge drinking refers to the instance where the individual consumes alcoholic beverage more than five drinks or more than four drinks per occasion, for men and women, respectively, within two to three hours. Second, heavy drinking pertains to alcohol consumption of greater than or equal to fifteen and greater than or equal to eight alcohol drinks for men and women, respectively. This also covers individuals less than twenty-one years old and pregnant people (CDC, 2021).
These practices result in more than 95 000 mortalities in the United States alone annually, secondary to adverse health effects such as hypertension and cerebrovascular accidents, and accidents such as injuries from engaging in violence and motor vehicular accidents (CDC 2021). Alcohol abuse is frequently co-existent with other substance abuse and psychological distress, or even incapacity. The disorder is often related to major depressive disorder, where there is a direct relationship between the symptoms of one to the other (Lechner et al., 2020).
Mission
The mission of this program is to promote the overall wellness of the affected individuals by diminishing the impact of alcohol abuse on them, including their families, peers, and the general community. This program also aims to reduce the incidence of aggression and violence resulting from alcohol abuse and reduce the overall number of victims over time. The program shall provide services to people at risk or already involved in alcohol abuse or addiction and prevent concomitant substance abuse.
Vision
This program envisions promoting the overall well-being of all the stakeholders by coordinating and forming partnerships with multiple community sectors, health departments, and the government. It shall promote behavioral services programs that aim to increase the delivery of care to all the stakeholders and construct a community that upholds social justice by implementing appropriate behavioral programs in line with the changes in the health policies.
Working with Individuals and Families in the Community
Working with the individual affected in reducing the impact of alcohol abuse in the community requires the analysis of all the factors. The most important of these are sociocultural factors, which include age, gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education, and the presence of comorbidities (i.e., cardiovascular or other psychological health issues). Conversely, working with the family should include the analysis of the effects of macro-level factors, such as the internet and the media, since the actions of the family members may directly or indirectly affect the individual. Aside from these, the traditional and cultural values of the family must be analyzed to understand its impact on individual behavior and the community per se (Sudhinaraset et al., 2016).
Stakeholders and Their Roles and Responsibilities
Patient
The primary role of the patients is to increase their awareness of the disease. This will help enhance their understanding and compliance with interventions and medications. This is important because alcohol abuse can affect multiple organs, on top of its effects on other stakeholders. First, it can affect the central nervous system by disturbing the brain's communication pathways, resulting in mood and behavioral dysfunction. This can also affect the brainstem, resulting in coordination pattern dysfunctions. Second, the cardiovascular side effects are hypertension, arrhythmia, and heart enlargement. All of these can lead to a heart attack or cerebrovascular accident. Third, since alcohol is metabolized in the liver, it can induce liver inflammation, resulting in fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Fourth, it can affect the pancreas secondary to the release of toxic substances, resulting in pancreatitis. This disease may be detrimental to one's health due to improper digestion or self-digestion of the pancreas. Aside from these, alcohol produces carcinogens, which may induce malignancies. Examples are head and neck cancer (i.e., pharyngeal, laryngeal, and esophageal carcinoma), liver, breast, and colorectal cancer. Alcohol also weakens the immune system, increasing the patient's susceptibility to tuberculosis and pneumonia (NIAAA, 2021).
Family
Based on the attachment theory, the family continues to be the principal source of attachment of the family members secondary to both nature and nurture. Nature pertains to biological connections, while nurture refers to the social factors affecting the individual. Alcohol abuse is a substance abuse disorder that affects the family's personal, developmental, economic, and emotional needs. These are secondary to the distresses brought by excessive buying of alcoholic beverages resulting in financial constraints and adverse mental effects of alcohol, resulting in violence and aggression. Often, the family's children are affected, and they are at increased risk of suffering from the same disorder. On top of these, the family is also the key in fighting the dilemmas, as the members must be involved in the treatment program to ensure optimal results (Das et al., 2016; Parolin & Simonelli, 2016).
Community
The disorder threatens the community's safety, prompting community-based health programs directed to eradicate alcohol abuse. This results from the increased incidence of violence, aggression, and accidents related to the disorder (Das et al., 2016).
Health Providers
Interprofessional team members are needed to ensure the improvement and safety of the patient. These include counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, addiction specialists, and nurses (Toney-Butler & Siela, 2021).
Public Health and Government Officials
Public health and government officials are responsible for making health policies. They should empower the public to increase awareness, coordinate interventions with other sectors to reduce the impact of alcohol abuse, improve healthcare response, impose community action, and construct drink-driving policies and countermeasures (WHO, 2019).
Barriers
Behavioral
Behavioral barriers include fear and the presence of distractions. Fear presents as a resistance to the interventions secondary to concerns about changing one's personality. This results in fear of opening up to the therapist, leading to failure of treatment. Conversely, distractions are secondary to the redirection of attention, preventing the continuity of care. The individual's attitude plays a role in enhancing one's concentration, as this can be determined by one's grit (Real Recovery, 2019). Shame is also another behavioral barrier that needs to be addressed (May & Nielsen, 2019).
Psychological
This involves the patient's perception of the treatment needs secondary to the lack of awareness of the condition. The individual usually believes that motivation and resolve are enough to conquer the disorder, while some do not believe they have a problem (May & Nielsen, 2019). Other barriers pertain to the co-existence of other mental health disorders (Lechner et al., 2020).
Recommendations
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can be used to improve the patient's control over one's condition. This involves self-monitoring techniques to reduce the frequency of cravings. Moreover, it encourages strategies for coping up with cravings in high-risk situations. Cognitive therapy is directed to patient education to increase awareness and prevent the recurrence of the behavior. This reinforces behavioral therapy that is directed at controlling the person's attitudes and motivations (NIDA, 2020).
Conversely, multi-systemic therapy (MST) is recommended for adolescents since this involves the patient, family, and friends. Moreover, it utilizes a familiar setting and environment close to their loved ones. It promotes positive attitudes and modifies the poor discipline within these groups. Moreover, it reduces the criminal subculture in the community (NIDA, 2020).
Behavioral Health Program on Alcoholism: Part 2
Summary
As stated...