As soon as an addict decides to undertake medication to correct the addiction, it is apparent that the treatment process has to begin with assessments. This research paper shall focus on the main steps that healthcare professionals focus on while assessing addiction patients.
The first step of addiction assessment involves engaging the patient and identifying and contacting collaterals to gather more information. However, at this stage a psychiatrist conducts basic evaluation of the patient’s state of mind (Smith & Passik, 2008). This step determines whether the patient is in their sober state of physical health and mind. In particular, assessment of physical and mental status of the patient determines extend of addiction recovery treatment that is required by the patient for proper recuperation (Freimuth, 2012). Concisely, the evaluation of physical and mental state is carried through basic evaluation mainly to determine the level of care that the patient will require as they undergo treatment. According to The Association for Addiction Professionals (2013), counselors must conduct the assessment during this stage paying attention to the limitations contained in their certification or licensure for evaluating mental and physical states of patients (The Association for Addiction Professionals, 2013).
The second step involves screening the patient to test and determine if he/she needs further medical attention owing to the current state of the addiction. In addition, the screening also determines the possibility of mental disorder of co-occurrence and determination of locus and quadrant of responsibility (Miller, 2010). The screening mainly for addicts at this stage seeks to answer yes or no questions from the patients. Based on Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Ethics the screening should be conducted in a manner that respects the patient’s rights and dignity (American Psychological Association. 2013). As such, the screening process needs to be conducted applying basic counseling skills and techniques. The importance of screening is that counselors are able to determine positive scores for a particular health problem using defined protocols. In addition, the screening provides details about the processes that the patient should undergo after the scores and standard forms are processed to document later assessments and results of the screening (Smith & Passik, 2008).
The third process involves determination of the level of care and diagnosis. In particular, determination of level of care requires the utilization of the ASAM PPC-2R that provides the health provider with a mechanism to conduct an organized assessment of the patient to come up the necessary placement in level of care (Freimuth, 2012). The importance of this step is that it allows the patient to be placed in the necessary level of care in a continuum of services such as psychiatric inpatient care or even intensive care management for addicts with lethal mental problems (Smith & Passik, 2008). Further, a medical doctor carries out diagnosis of the patient; however, it is challenging for addicts because most of them have impaired states of mind and exhibit mixed symptoms. Anyhow, diagnosis determines the severity of the symptoms and confounds a specific diagnostic imagery (Miller, 2010).
Finally, the health providers have to produce a treatment. In essence, the aim of undertaking the assessment process is to screen the patient to ensure that their medical needs are matched with proper treatment. It is important that the program treatment and placement of addicts be conducted on individual basis in order to match different patients with their medical and counseling needs. Most importantly, the assessment process of addicts in health centers should end up with an integrated treatment plan (Miller, 2010). The treatment plan needs to be designed based on the principal of mental disorder multiple or dual for primary treatment so that disorders caused by addiction are addressed using a specific intervention that matches the diagnosis or problem. In general, integrated treatment planning for addicts engenders assisting the patient to attain best feasible treatment alternatives for each disorder (Freimuth, 2012).
In the assessment of addiction, it is important that healthcare facilities adopt a multidisciplinary approach so that they draw professional from different medical disciplines in to treat addiction. The multidisciplinary approach towards treating addiction should bring together psychiatrics, psychologists, clinical nurses and medical doctors to bring in their expertise during assessment, screening and developing a treatment plan (Smith & Passik, 2008).
In conclusion, the assessment process of addicts begins with engaging the patient, identifying and contacting collaterals, screening the patient, determination of level of care and diagnosis and finally come up with the corresponding treatment plan. This process should take the multidisciplinary approach.
REFERENCES
American Psychological Association. (2013). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
The Association for Addiction Professionals. (2013). NAADAC Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www.naadac.org/resources/codeofethics
Jongsma, J. A. E., & Perkinson, R. R. (2015). The Addiction Treatment Planner. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Freimuth, M. (2012). Hidden addictions: Assessment practices for psychotherapists, counselors, and health care providers. New York: Elsevier.
Smith, H. S., & Passik, S. D. (2008). Pain and chemical dependency. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miller, G. (2010). Learning the Language of Addiction Counseling. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
