Psychoeducation Case Study

The literature above highlights the problem of WC’s drug overdose problem, yet the community isn’t receiving any psychoeducation on the effects of the drugs and harm reduction. There are two issues involved related to Kitchener's moral principles; nonmaleficence and justice. WC is not receiving the education that is essential to avoid harm. By the county not engaging education to the opioid crisis is essentially engaging in actions that risk harming individuals. In addition, there has been a failure of distributive justice in WC. There has been a failure to pay attention to every town the county and provide educational forums on drugs and harm reduction. Working through this ethical dilemma it was important to identify the clinical issues

Two themes were consistent in the literature and ethical codes: the potential harm done to the population if unaware of drug effects/the treatment available and increased deaths in WC. To advocate for WC’s drug crisis, it needed to be a public approach and brought to a local level. To do this, I am putting on a series of presentations that addresses and advocates for harm reduction. In my presentation, I will include the importance of harm-reduction, provide psychoeducation on opiates and prescription drugs, and a demonstration on how to dispense NARCAN. I will be presenting to each town in WC. The presentations will be held in each town’s hall. In order to inform the public about the event, I will contact the town's local newspaper or media source and have them print the flyer in the newspaper, post it on the town hall board, hospital bulletins, and public library (I have attached an example of the flyer for Jonesport Maine). The presentation is open to the public, including community members, physicians, pharmacists, nurses, law enforcement, etc. The presentations format is written for the average education level (8th-grade level) and does not go into scientific explanations. I chose to include all community members, that way it didn’t seem like I was only focusing on those who had an addiction problem. It is going to take more than addicts and counselors to overcome

The test of justice determined my fairness as to whether I was treating everyone in the county the same, which is why I was traveling to all 39 towns with my presentation. The test of publicity determined if I would want my behavior reported in the press. The WC drug crisis is one of Maine’s most documented current events issue, and to be advocating for ways to combat the crisis was something I was comfortable having my name attached too. The test of universality asked if I would recommend the same presentation to another counselor in the same situation, I would. Outside of Maine, there is a national opioid epidemic and prevention, treatment, and research is one of the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services top priorities (8). Due to this, any form of education around the issue is more likely to do good, than harm. I would encourage others to provide the same psychoeducation around the