WABHARM community awareness programme provides evidence based preventative intervention to all aspects of the community.
Our programme provides training and workshop for the following groups in the community
- Faith –based Community
- Family and Friends
- Business Community
- Armed Forces (Army, Navy & Air force)
- Paramilitary (Customs, Immigration, Prisons e.t.c)
- Police force
Our primary aim aside from increasing knowledge and awareness about substance use and its impact on the wider community is to also create effective referral pathways in to local substance misuse treatment services and increase the number of drug and alcohol abusers accessing mainstream treatment services.
Faith-Based Substance Misuse Programme:
The role of the faith-based community is well researched and evidenced over the past decades. The faith-community has established and played significant role in the prevention and recovery of people experiencing difficulty with problematic substance misuse.
WABHARM’S faith-based programme is to amplify the relevance and importance of the faith community as a protective factor for individuals and their families seeking to adopt spirituality as a tool towards recovery.
Our faith—based programme for faith-leaders include the option of working towards an internationally recognised certification provided by reputable institution in the US.
We provide evidence based training workshops aimed at the following;
- Faith leaders workshop (Clergy, Pastors, Imams, Rabbis and Priests)
- Faith-based youth leaders workshop (Churches, Mosques, Synagogue and Temples)
- Congregation awareness workshop
Family Awareness Programme:
WABHARM family awareness programme provides psycho educational training / workshops for members of the general public with interest in understanding issues related to substance use, misuse and abuse, and information on available treatment interventions and services providers.
The workshop is open to all irrespective of their family’s substance use status, information and resources will be provided on how to support an addicted member of the family as well as active participation in reducing the impact of substance use related problems in their family and immediate community.
Specific support will be given to parents of teenage children at risk of developing a substance misuse problem, while updating their knowledge on various government policies and legislations relevant to young people substance use.
The FAP facilitates the following workshops;
- Understanding Addiction & Adolescence Brain development
- Alcohol & Drugs awareness
- Communication skills with Teenagers
- Role of parents in the recovery journey
Business Community Awareness Programme
WABHARM business community awareness programme provides evidence based training workshop to local businesses with specific emphasis on the impact of substance misuse on business, workforce and productivity.
The workshop model is based on risk and protective factors, how these factors influence various team cultures, with specific emphasis on how team members can identify both individual and team risk and protective factors. While focusing on the social factors within the team, with the primary aim of reducing co-worker enabling, identify and reduce team social culture that initiates and sustains a work place drinking or drug use culture, and encourage the enhancement of team cohesion and increased team spirit.
The Business community workshop includes but not limited to the followings;
- Drug and Alcohol awareness
- Dependency and the work environment
- Risk and Protective factors
- The law, organisational policies and consequences
- Treatment & Support
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Armed Forces Awareness Programme
WABHARM Armed Forces programme is designed specially to address the substance use related concerns of the various forces and provide appropriate treatment interventions tailored to the unique needs of the armed forces.
The West African sub-region has experienced several conflicts over the years and member countries have had to deploy their armed forces personnel to areas of these conflicts either as ECOWAS peace keeping force or part of the African Union peace keeping force and sometimes United Nations Peace keeping force.
Armed forces personal returning from these tours of duty often returns with experiences they witnessed from the front lines, which might lead to some psychological problems like Depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The need to cope with these negative experiences often lead to the initiation of drug and alcohol use as a coping mechanism or increase existing drug and alcohol use.
Our Armed Forces workshops provide evidence based knowledge and awareness for senior officers and other ranks.
Paramilitary Services Awareness Programme
Our workshop is tailored towards enhancing the effectiveness of the men and women of the Paramilitary services towards recognition, identification and understanding of various psychoactive substances and the threat they pose to the country, population and national security.
We also address problematic substance use within this group and provide adequate knowledge and awareness on the use of psychoactive substances to their effectiveness and productivity.
Police Force
The police force has a unique role in the society as the main frontline service to the general population, the importance of empowering the National Police Force in understanding and attaining an acceptable level of competence cannot be over emphasised.
Evidence from around the world has shown that not only are men and women of the police force prone to use, abuse and misuse of psychoactive substances. But their ability to recognise people presenting or acting under the influence of drug and alcohol has contributed immensely towards crime reduction.
Substance Misuse Worker Training Programme
WABHARM provides a12 week’s intensive training programme for members of the general public with or without a background in drug and alcohol.
The course is very popular among ex-users in recovery who have maintained abstinence for a 6-12 months period.
Professionals who work with or come across people or families with problematic substance misuse will also find the course beneficial towards enhancing their competencies in providing evidence based therapeutic support to their clients.
Following completion of the programme, participants are encouraged to volunteer their time at their local substance misuse treatment service to enable them benefit from the practical experience of applying theory into practice.
The course could also be a route for further education in substance misuse in any of the various institutions offering various related programme.
Intake Criteria:
- Ability to read and write to an acceptable level (Individual Assessments)
- Able to commit one day a week for 12 weeks part-time or six weeks full-time
- To have maintained abstinence for a minimum of six months (Ex-Users only)
Course Content
- Understanding Addiction
- Treatment Knowledge
- Application to Practice
- Professional Readiness
- Clinical Evaluation
- Treatment Planning
- Referral
- Service co-ordination
- Basic Counselling Skills
- Client Family & Community Education
- Documentation
- Professional and Ethical Responsibilities