An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Services Offered to Youth Substance Abusers at Annexe Psychiatric Hospital

Abstract

The researcher assessed the effectiveness of the rehabilitation services offered to youth substance abusers at Annexe Parirenyatwa Hospital. The objectives were to examine the strategies used to rehabilitate substance abusers at APH, to highlight the success in rehabilitation of substance abusers at APH, to identify the challenges faced when rehabilitating substance abusers and to propose mitigation strategies to strengthen rehabilitation services. The study employed the qualitative research paradigm and purposively administered questionnaires to 4 key informants and 10 participants and also conducted interviews. The socio-ecological theory was used to support a holistic view to the problem of substance abuse and demonstrates that factors driving drug abuse are interrelated and intervention strategies or programmes for combating the scourge should be integrated. The strategies used to rehabilitate substance abusers at APH include, medical detoxification, long term treatment program, individualized treatment plan, psycho-social support, pharmacotherapy and occupational therapy. The researcher found out that the rehabilitation services offered at Annexe Parirenyatwa Hospital are to a higher degree effective. The challenges that were gathered included mixing patients with mild and severe mental illness, unsafe hygienic conditions, lack of good rapport between patients and nurses, boredom, inadequate financial resources to keep rehabilitation programs running, shortage of personnel, lack of enough medication resources, irregular follow ups and relapse. The mitigation strategies that was proposed included, the need for government funds to be awarded to mental health issues, more staff, creation of recreational activities, establishing good rapport between rehabilitees and rehabilitators and the creation of legal frameworks that strictly prohibits the use and smuggling in of substances in the country.