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THE OKANA DRUG HELPLINE SOS 1031. FESAT Working Seminar in UTRECHT Sept 13th - 14th 20 10 Nena Kaggelari Melita Mantouvalou. OKANA (ORGANIZATION AGAINST DRUGS)
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THE OKANA DRUG HELPLINE SOS 1031 FESAT Working Seminar in UTRECHT Sept 13th - 14th 2010 Nena Kaggelari Melita Mantouvalou
OKANA (ORGANIZATION AGAINST DRUGS) The Organization Against Drugs (OKANA) was established by Law 2161/93 and operates since 1995 in Greece
Main Goals of OKANA • Design, promote & coordinate a national policy on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in the field of substance abuse. • Study the phenomenon of drugs at a national level, & provide information and help to the public. • Create & develop municipal Prevention Centers, TherapeuticPrograms & Centers of Social and Professional Rehabilitation.
Networking • Ministry of Public Health • Therapeutic programs • Local government • Universities • European and International Organizations • OKANAhas developed an extensive network of Prevention Centers all over Greece, in cooperation with local municipality. • It has also created various programs covering Treatment and Social Rehabilitation of drug users.
OKANA’s SERVICES • Prevention: • 71 Prevention Centers operate all over the country in cooperation with Local government. • Treatment : • 1 Admission, Information and Orientation Center • 24 Therapeutic Substitution Units, • 3 Adult Drug Free Programs • 4 Young people Drug Free Programs • 3. Social Rehabilitation: • 1 Social Rehabilitation Unit • 1 Vocational Training Center (in Athens and Thessalonica). • 4. Direct Services • 1 Emergency Care and Support Unit • 1 Day Care Center for Drug Addicts • 1 Telephone Drug Helpline SOS 1031 • 5. Support Services • Administrative support services
Overview ofthe Drug Helpline SOS 1031 • Started in 2000. • Covers the whole country as a low call service (free of charge for Vodafone users). • Anonymity and confidentially of callers is ensured. • Staff includes 5 mental health professionals: a manager, 4 counselors, and an administrative secretary (no volunteers at the present moment). • Opening hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-20:00.
GOALS OF THE HELPLINE • Information, support & guidance for all those concerned with any aspect of substance misuse: legal & illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc. • Counseling for motivational purposes and emotional support • Emergency help & advice in case of a crisis (withdrawal period, etc.) • Referrals to services for treatment & prevention • Advice on mental health & emotional support resources
The OKANA DRUG HELPLINE SOS 1031 RESPONDS TO: • The needs of people, directly or indirectly involved with drug abuse • Specifically: • Drug users • Parents-siblings and relatives • Friends-Partners • Social workers-Health care professionals- Educators - Students-Employers • Media-Police -Public at large.
CALLER’ S REQUESTS • Information about drugs. • Therapeutic or prevention programs. • Help to handle an emergency crisis. • Psychological guidance & support.
Technology & Reporting Technology & Reporting • Call details are registered daily in a computerized database program (Access) • Call records are collected on a monthly basis & processed by the helpline team • Statistics are used for Okana & for Fesat’s Monitoring Project
Irrelevant calls Repeat calls
SUBSTANCES 2000 - 2009 Other (Benzodiazepines, XTC, LSD, etc) Alcohol Cocaine
The role of the Counselor • Must create a trustful relation with the caller and encourage open expression. • Clarify the question or problem. • Determine the goal of the conversation, together with the client, • & help him make his own decisions, without giving direct advise • Provide Closure • Update records & information regarding available services in drug field.
Drug Helpline SOS About us…………..
Methodological Approach • Basic Principles of Client-Oriented Counseling (Active Listening,Empathy, Unconditional Support & a Non-Judgmental Approach). • Transtheoretical model (5 Stages of Change, Prochaska and DiClemente, 1984). • Motivational Interviewing Techniques, Miller and Rollnick, 1991.
Daily obstacles & challenges: • Calls concerning safe home detoxification, due to the existence of only one state detox treatment program in the Psychiatric Hospital of Salonica (with a limited capacity). • Difficulties when referring people for help to substitution treatment programs, due to long waiting lists • Having no feedback or follow up after referrals (for most of the cases) • Suggesting further appropriate treatment & support to people who have already tried many times in the past and have no motivation (particularly older users)
SUPERVISION • A key tool in our function is our weekly supervision session with the drug helpline manager which has the following goals: • Developing skills/potential of our team for • improvement of our services. • Exploring the issues and difficulties • arising in certain calls & follow-up • Discussion & Feedback on topics of common concern
TRAINING • Participation in Conferences, Seminars & • Workshops organized by mental health • agencies. • Additional training by the helpline manager • or the staff on various mental • health subjects, such as: • - chat model service, • - alcohol & gambling addiction, • - debriefing after crisis calls, etc.
THE PHILOSOPHY of our HELPLINE is based on : Confidentiality, Anonymity and Equal opportunities, and aims at creating arelationship ofsafety & trustwhere the caller feels able to speak freely.