Research project:
The views of drug and alcohol treatment agency workers
Carly McDaid, Becky Hancock and David Clark
The government has given a high profile to its plan to tackle drug misuse
and a key aim is to increase numbers of drug misusers in treatment. However,
the demands on the workers who provide treatment are often great. In this
study, we examined issues affecting drug and alcohol treatment workers
in Wales.
70 treatment agency workers (30 males) working in the voluntary and statutory
sectors completed the questionnaire, representing a 18.5% return rate.
Their ages ranged from 23 to 63 years, with an average of 41 years.
Some key findings:
Subjects were asked, "How would you rate the quality of interaction
you have with these organisations or individuals?" They could respond
with one of four alternatives; very good, good, poor, very poor. The percentages
of subjects saying "very good" or "good" were:
| |
|
Good/Very Good |
| Detox or Residential Rehabilitation Unit |
|
87.9% |
| Community Drug Teams |
|
81.0% |
| Probation |
|
79.6% |
| Pharmacies |
|
77.5% |
| Local Hospital |
|
76.1% |
| Youth Offending Teams |
|
73.1% |
| Voluntary Sector treatment agencies |
|
72.3% |
| Schools |
|
66.7% |
| Police |
|
64.3% |
| Housing |
|
61.0% |
| Social Services |
|
60.0% |
| General Practitioners |
|
55.5% |
| Community Mental Health Team |
|
50.0% |
| Benefits Office |
|
41.6% |
Subjects were also asked, "How much do
the following recognise and value your hard work?" The percentages
saying "Very much" or "Quite a lot" were:
| |
|
Quite a lot/Very much |
| Agency Management |
|
84.7% |
| Clients |
|
83.1% |
| DAAT/LAT teams |
|
58.4% |
| Other Treatment Agencies |
|
53.0% |
| Probation |
|
44.6% |
| Social Services |
|
42.6% |
| General Practitioners |
|
39.8% |
| Police |
|
32.8% |
| General Public |
|
30.9% |
| Welsh Assembly Government |
|
27.0% |
| UK Government |
|
15.3% |
Subjects were asked, "How effective are
the following in helping tackle substance misuse in you area?" The
percentages saying "Very effective" or "Moderately effective"
were:
| |
|
Moderately/Very Effective |
| Treatment agencies |
|
80.6% |
| Drug and Alcohol Action Teams |
|
69.9% |
| Health Authorities |
|
57.2% |
| Local Action Teams |
|
50.9% |
| Social Services |
|
36.2% |
| GPs |
|
34.4% |
| Police |
|
34.4% |
| Education Authorities |
|
32.2% |
| Welsh Assembly Government |
|
21.4% |
| Local Council |
|
17.3% |
| UK Government |
|
12.7% |
|
