Case management | Social Work

Investigations have indicated many peoples who are into the addiction treatment programs; their problems are not restricted to addiction. The peoples involved with drug and alcohol using encounter health problems and mental health more than the others. This problem is due to the fact that drug using often affects on various aspects of life. The clients have been into the treatment programs often confront problems like need for medical services, mental problems, legal problems, housing, employment, family turmoil and social relations. But unfortunately in most treatment centers, the treatment is solely focused on discontinuation and in these centers peoples experience once or several times of drug withdrawal and they leave the centers with disregarding the aspects of the personal, family and social life. For this reason we observe increasing mistakes and returning of peoples passed the different treatment courses.
Studies show when the treatment services are determined and designed according to special needs of clients, the treatment result is improved. Due to this definition of recovery, case management services have special place in treatment program, rehabilitation and harm reduction of addiction. This intervention can be used as a complementary for traditional treatment programs. Broadly speaking the case management is defined as a coordinator approach to respond to health needs, drug using, mental health, social services, and clients’ relationship with appropriate services and determining their specific needs in order to reach their goals. The case management services have specific principles including client-centered and tailored to the needs of each client, pragmatic approach, flexible, sensitive to cultural conditions, community centered along with support. In our country, despite of the population of several hundred thousand people profit by treatment services, rehabilitation and harm reduction of addiction unfortunately lack of supportive services to respond to the specific needs of each client makes this problem that treatment centers’ application has changed from rehabilitation to maintenance.
As the different studies have pointed to successful effects of the case management services on treatment programs, increasingly felt the absence of case management services in treatment programs, rehabilitation and addiction harm reduction in our country. For this reason it is necessary these services being considered and used in all centers relevant to drug users from prevention to treatment and empowerment. Especially the centers called “centers after releasing” use these services in which they can reduce the mistakes and returning among drug users who are released from treatment centers.

Morteza Danayifar
Master of Social Work
“Iranian social worker’s media campaign on social protection of recovered”