Learning Together: Chapter VII - Drug, Alcohol & Substance Abuse Programs

Drug and alcohol abuse by youth is recognized as a major problem in America. Israel has designed a number of different programs aimed at dealing with substance abuse employing novel strategies. These range from broad-based educational programs to intensive residential treatment centers. All warrant study for the American context.

“EFSHAR” — Unit for Treatment of Victims of Alcohol

Contact:

Nahum Michaely, Director
Alcohol Treatment Programs
Association for the Development of Social Services
14 Jona Street
Ramat-Gan 52376
Tel./Fax. (03) 619-7794

Objective:

To bring all the community services for victims of addiction under one roof.

Target Population:

Some 800 families that suffer from alcoholism are accepted at the treatment centers — half (400) at the three national treatment centers in Jerusalem, Haifa and Ramat-Gan. Eight centers are maintained by municipal authorities.

Program and Activities:

The Unit for the Treatment of Victims of Alcohol of the "Efshar" Society was established in January 1991. Over the years, the staff has developed therapeutic models and methodology in treating addicts and their families. Treatment, which lasts for about one week, consists of individual and group therapy, special groups for children and wives of addicts and rehabilitative activities in the community. The program operates under the auspices and supervision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs' Service for the Welfare of the Individual and Family at the three national treatment centers and participates in local treatment centers. The Unit enjoys the full cooperation of various hospitals and Alcoholics Anonymous support groups.

The Unit has modified its therapeutic and counseling program to the particular needs of immigrants who are alcohol victims. For this aspect of the program, physician-psychiatrists, and all new immigrants who specialized in drug addiction, work at the national and local centers as well as in the caravan neighborhoods of Bat-Hazer and Hatrot Yasaf. In their work, Russian professionals combine treatment techniques familiar in Russia with the accepted treatment in Israel, including support groups and family sessions. The Unit has also published materials in Russian.

The treatment centers are used as field placements for social worker students from various Israeli universities. The Unit is associated with Rutgers University in New Jersey and sends workers to its summer course on alcoholism. Concentrated training workshops on various aspects of alcoholism, its prevention and treatment are provided by the Unit.

A committee is maintained by the Unit to develop an intervention program to prevent alcohol abuse and, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Culture's Psychological Counseling Service, conducts lectures and workshops for pupils, teachers and parents. More than 100 lectures were given at various schools in 1993 alone.

Handy basic information brochures on treatment programs and referral procedures are published in four languages. Special symposia are arranged in conjunction with other groups, such as the Industrialists' Association.

“EFSHAR” — Alcohol Treatment Programs

Contact:

Nahum Michaely, Director
Alcohol Treatment Programs
Association for the Development of Social Services
14 Jona Street
Ramat-Gan 52376
Tel./Fax. (03) 619-7794

Objective:

To provide different programs for the prevention of alcohol abuse that can be adapted to the needs of a school or a requesting agency.

To influence public opinion regarding alcohol consumption and alcohol consumers.

Target Population:

The entire public, with an emphasis on school children, parents of school children, teachers and counselors, youths who do not attend school and their counselors, factory workers and personnel directors, drivers and alcohol treatment workers.

Program and Activities:

The program content in preventing addictive substance abuse is based mainly on developing personal abilities and skills to cope without the use of addictive substances. For 10th graders, the program involved six classes — an evening session of pupils and their parents plus five hour-and-a-half classroom sessions. The opening session begins with a real-life case of the treatment of a girl who applied to a treatment center followed by sessions dealing with group pressure, self-image, decision-making and comprehensive information on drugs and alcohol. The program involved videos, games, films, open discussions and lectures.

“Alcohol and Drunkenness” and “Hashish
and Marijuana” Curriculum Units

Contact:

Dr. Shoshana Weiss
41A Ramim Street
Karmiel 21861, Israel
Tel. & Fax: (04) 998-9431

Objective:

To influence the attitudes of Israeli teenagers toward excessive drinking and to affect their behavior accordingly.

Target Population:

Students in the upper level of the Israeli school system.

Program and Activities:

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology developed this interdisciplinary educational prevention program for junior and senior high school students for the Israel Society for the Prevention of Alcoholism. Alcohol and Drunkenness is a science-oriented curriculum consisting of 10 units designed for about 25-35 classroom contact hours.

The interdisciplinary curriculum deals with primary and direct prevention, focuses on both the cognitive and affective domains, furthers decision-making and stresses Jewish values and norms concerning consumption of alcohol. The field-tested program is considered a practical and manageable model aimed at affecting the attitudes and behaviors of Israeli teenagers toward excessive drinking. Studies have shown that the curriculum contributes to significant positive changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of students and constitutes a viable educational tool in the prevention of excessive drinking.

Hashish and Marihuana is a preventive interdisciplinary curriculum similar to Alcohol and Drunkenness that focuses on the attitudes and intentions toward hashish use among Israeli high school students. First published in 1979, the curriculum was revised and tested in 1987-88 and found to have a statistically significant impact on attitudes regarding hashish and marihuana.

In 1985, the Department of In-Service Training of the Haifa University School of Education, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, initiated a comprehensive substance-abuse prevention, science-oriented course. The course is interdisciplinary, combining both a scientific/theoretical and a factual/informative basis for understanding drug and alcohol abuse. Instruction on AIDS is also included. The program is aimed at increasing the teacher's knowledge regarding drugs and alcohol and their abuse, providing insights into prevention strategies and treatment modalities and expand their repertoire of teaching strategies and resources. A total of 112 hours of instruction are provided.

Residential Treatment Center
and Rehabilitative Hostel for Alcoholics

Contact:

The Israel Society for the Prevention of Alcoholism
13 Nordau Street
Ramat-Gan 52464, Israel
Tel. (03) 6724128, Fax. (03) 6724120

Objective:

To provide a residential treatment facility for alcoholics who need more intensive treatment than can be provided at an outpatient facility.

Target Population:

Alcoholics in need of intensive treatment.

Program and Activities:

The Israel Society for the Prevention of Alcoholism was founded in 1976 to develop and advance prevention, education and treatment of alcoholism among adults and youth. The society established a residential treatment center in 1982 and a rehabilitative hostel in 1990.

As the only residential treatment facility, the center serves the entire population in Israel. The treatment services are tailored to individual needs of each patient and include: long-term treatment for a period of up to three months, detoxification and short-term treatment for a period of up to two weeks and day treatment for various time periods.

The hostel is dedicated to the rehabilitation of alcoholics who complete treatment in the residential center and maintain continued abstinence. The hostel offers services that include housing and vocational assistance in addition to continued alcoholism rehabilitation. The length of stay ranges between six months and a year during which time patients receive vocational assessment and training and help in obtaining employment and housing.

Life Without Drugs

Contact:

Noach Greenbaum
Division of Social and Youth Education
Ministry of Education and Culture
1 Devora Hanevia Street
Jerusalem 91191, Israel
Tel. (02) 293135/6, Fax. (02) 293886

Objective:

To provide an educational-treatment program following which the youth will avoid and maintain distance from the use of psycho-active chemicals and will adapt their behavior to a manner suitable to the area or areas in which they can succeed in finding gratification, reaching achievements and success that are meaningful to them while also recognized and appreciated by the environment in which they live.

Target Population:

Youth ages 14 to 18 in the Youth Promotion population — youth who are disengaged from formal educational settings and are exposed to the dangers and use of drugs and alcohol in their families, their environment and/or in the community in which they live. The program is not intended for regular users and addicts to drugs and alcohol.

Program and Activities:

The program is based on the behavior modification model, integrating three traditional approaches that comprise that model — informational/knowledge, attitudes/values and decision-making/social capability.