I have been doing some research on substance abuse in Canada.For reference the substances abused are tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs. As a future health care worker, I consider these some of my personal challenges in dealing with substance abuse: 1) talking about addiction to total strangers, that seems a little bit intimidating to me 2)I know how hard it is to change myself, how am I going to be able to help someone change himself/herself 3) Not take the easy way out and think that someone is a hopeless case (a someone who has an addiction)
In the research that I have found, substance abuse is one of the most costly illnesses the healthcare system deals with according to the document, The Cost of Substance Abuse in Canada ,
” Measured in terms of the burden on services such as health care and law enforcement, and the loss of productivity in the workplace or at home resulting from premature death and disability, the overall social cost of substance abuse in Canada in 2002 was estimated to be $39.8 billion. …This overall estimate represents a cost of $1,267 to every man, woman and child in Canada”.D., ,Brochu, S.,Fischer B., Gnam, W., Patra, J., Popova, A., Rehm, J., Samocinska-Hart, A., Taylor, B. (2002). That’s right 1,267 dollars for every man woman and child, so for my family of 5 that means 6335 dollars a year to help pay our share of this cost to society or about 17 dollars a day.
It is definitely a problem and while these numbers help us to get a picture of the costs (we always can feel it in the pocket book) these numbers represent people’s lives, and families. I feel we defiantly need to do or say something as a health care worker but, how will our efforts come across? How do you plan on handling this situation? Please share your thoughts.
The document is found at this address:
http://www.ccsa.ca/2006 CCSA Documents/ccsa-011332-2006.pdf
