Does Heroin use Disorder Intervention ‘Work’? a Critical Review

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Authors : Monika Dos Santos

Abstract:

Abstract Of all the vice problems confronting South Africa and many other countries, the heroin dependence syndrome and its consequences pose some of the most serious challenges. While the treatment and management of heroin use disorders continues to be characterized by new developments, altering perspectives, and by controversies of one kind or another, the literature findings suggest that different treatment settings may be appropriate for different heroin users. People who are treated for heroin use disorders achieve a continuum of outcomes with respect to their heroin-taking behaviour and their heroin-related problems. Treatment response is thus not a simple matter of success or failure. As with many treatments, the assessment of outcome involves degrees of improvement, and these may have different meanings for different individual cases. Although there is a general acceptance of such goals as improved health, or reduction or elimination of heroin consumption, it is also necessary to be aware of the need for flexible goals that can be adapted to individual circumstances.

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