Aiming to better serve young substance abusers and to help addicts’ families better understand chemical dependency, Sandy Lane Centre started two new programmes in 2012, according to the drug treatment facility’s annual report.
The Family Programme, launched in March 2012, seeks to help the partners, parents and other family members of addicts “learn to recognise the symptoms” of addiction and to learn about “enabling behaviours and attitudes,” the report stated.
Second Chance, “an adolescent psycho-educational programme,” aims to teach teens about the different effects of drugs, using an interactive approach that requires their parents or guardians to participate. Centre staff members hope parent participation will lead to teens having a “positive social system” in which to change their thinking and behaviour.
The report, which was tabled at the most recent House of Assembly meeting, also outlines the centre’s major challenges for 2012: inadequate staffing, a lack of building maintenance, and the absence of a national drug policy or drug reduction strategy, among others.
See the June 13, 2013 edition for full coverage.
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