1. You work as a resident assistant at a university that has recently become a “smoke free” environment. You have a number of students in your dorm who you know are smokers. As the RA, you play a role in informing the students of this policy change at the school and providing students with appropriate information and resources.
You decide to have a meeting with your residents to discuss the policy change. You plan to address:
- The rational for this change (Why is the college instituting this policy. You might address: acute and chronic impacts of smoking, the impact of passive smoking, etc.)
- The pharmacology of nicotine
- If the students want to try to quit or reduce their use because of the new rules, what options do they have?
Create a PowerPoint presentation that you will use at this meeting. Remember that your population is college students.
2. On page 254, our text states that “multiple types of factors influence the development of alcohol use disorder” and alcohol use disorder “is caused and maintained by a combination of biological, psychological, and sociological factors.” It goes on to include that alcohol use disorder cannot be understood unless “all the types of influencing variables” are considered.
When a patient enters treatment for an alcohol use disorder, step one is the completion of a Biopsychosocial Assessment. Review the Biopsychosocial Assessment below and make a list of the biological, the psychological, and the social or sociological factors that you believe may be contributing to his alcoholism. Lastly, please write at least 6 sentences reflecting your recommendations for this individual. Recommendations can include professional interventions, personal interventions, legal interventions, family-based interventions, medical interventions, etc.
The identified patient (IP) is 44 year old divorced Caucasian male. IP reported that he took his 3 children on vacation to Ocean City on 8/10/19. On 8/12/19 IP went to the beach with his kids and reported drinking 2 beers. Later that evening he took his kids out to dinner, where he reported drinking 3 nip size bottles of vodka. During their walk home the IP fell. Concerned citizens came to his aid and when they realized he was intoxicated they called the police. When the police arrived they took the IP and his children to the police department. IP’s mother in law drove from Pennsylvania to Maryland to pick up the children. At 11:00pm the IP was transferred to a local medical center where they performed a BAC test. 5 hours after his initial arrest. BAC was .321. IP was confronted on the fact that his recorded BAC does not accurately represent his reported alcohol consumption throughout the evening. IP admitted that he had consumed more alcohol than initially reported but was unwilling to elaborate on how much. After he was medically stabilized the police transferred IP to the local correctional facility. He appeared in front of the judge the following day and was released with 3 charges of endangering the welfare of a child. IP is divorced and had sole custody of his children leading up to the arrest.
IP reported that he had a normal upbringing and there was no abuse within the household growing up. However, he described his father as a “functional alcoholic” and stated that he was very strict with him and his brother. He reported that his mother drank socially and sometimes took medication to help her control anxiety. His parents divorced when he was 15 years old and he stated that “it sucked.” He and his brother spent the week with their mother and the weekends with their father. IP noted that after the divorce his relationship with his father started to deteriorate and reported that he has not had a relationship with his father for the last 8 years. IP reported that his paternal grandparents were heavy drinkers. He shared that his brother doesn’t have any known substance use problems, but has been in treatment for a gambling addiction twice.
IP was divorced in June of 2015. IP was with his wife for 12 years and noted that they were happy with each other until they had children. He reported that his wife had complaints about his drinking and he feels that this contributed to their separation. IP reported that after their first child his wife told him that she did not want to be married and she did not want to be a mother. They subsequently had two more children. Children are currently 10, 8, and 6 years old. IP currently has 3 counts of endangering the well fare of a minor. He reported that he has very limited supports in his life and his primary purpose is looking after his children and working.
TEXTBOOK & READING MATERIALS
Maisto, S. A., Galizio, M., & Coonors, G. J. (2021). Drug use and misuse (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, Inc.
