Annual Meeting: Psychiatry Today
Monday 24th to Thursday 27th June 2002
Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff
A study in South Wales has found that drug counselling has an
important role to play in helping people come off drugs and
alcohol.
No studies to date have looked at the effect of having
preliminary counselling before in-patient detoxification, although
there is some evidence that detoxification is associated with
improvement after contact with drug/alcohol services.
The authors assessed 65 clients admitted over a six month
period to the Cefn Coed Unit in Swansea. They looked at the amount
of time each client had spent on the waiting list, the referring
agency, whether they were on probation, and whether they had had
preliminary counselling. Six months later, local specialist
counselling services were contacted to see which clients had
engaged with follow-up, and what their current drug/alcohol status
was.
The researchers found that preliminary counselling was
significantly associated with controlled substance use after
detoxification, but not with abstinence. Those clients engaged with
services after detoxification tended to be either abstinent or
using in a controlled way. Improvement was not linked to time spent
on the waiting list, the referring agency, or whether the clients
were on probation.
The authors recommend that future service development should
be aimed at strengthening liaison between the Cefn Coed Unit and
drug and alcohol counselling agencies.
For further information, please contact Liz Fox or Deborah
Hart in the Communications Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127