Operation Rebirth will facilitate opportunities for these patients to improve themselves, and their chances of having a worthwhile future. Ideally, it is hoped that the patients will turn away from delinquency, and become positive contributors to society, leading healthy lifestyles.
Their grasp of these concepts will be determined during the life of the project, by the degree to which they develop the potential to engage in the use of the computer and become literate. Both of these learned skills will allow them to re-enter society with the potential of excelling.
Since each batch of patients are only in the Detox Unit for four weeks, their computer experience here will be primarily introductory, acting as a teaser for them to want to further themselves in computer studies.
Operation Rebirth will provide a link with Furdie's House on Old Hope Road, which will serve as an outpatient computer-learning centre for the patients leaving the Detox Unit, after their four-week tenure here.
In informal talks and interviews with these patients, I hope that they will come to realize their misfortune, and would want to bring about a change in their circumstances, through grasping the education that will be given to them, as a result of the input from various donor and support agencies.
In addition to medically stabilizing the patients, it is expected that the Detox Unit will be able to help re-socialize the patients more effectively, using the computer as a major socialization tool.
It is expected that this will help to make the patients feel more in tune with society, being able to keep up with society's technological advancements, which otherwise would have passed them by.
Just as how there needs to be a re-thinking of the way patients view themselves, there also needs to be a change in the view that mentally challenged people should be locked away, and be totally removed from the rest of society. Their potential of contributing greatly to nation building needs to be fully observed and respected.
In 1996, the World Bank in the Burden of Disease Report, emphasized the significant burden associated with mental disorders caused from drug abuse. The report estimated that in 1992, five of the ten leading causes of disability worldwide were drug abuse related psychiatric disorders, accounting for a quarter of total disability and 10% of the total health burden.
This has stimulated an increase in interest in drug abuse related mental health care worldwide, thus causing this issue to be accorded priority in health sector reform and health programmes of many countries.
"Drug dependence treatment is cost-effective in reducing drug use (40-60%), and the associated health and social consequences, such as HIV infection and criminal activity. The effectiveness of drug dependence treatment is comparable to the success rates for the treatment of other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma (NIDA 2000).
Treatment has been shown to be less expensive than other alternatives, such as not treating dependents or simply incarcerating them. For example, in the United States, the average cost for one full year of methadone maintenance treatment is approximately US$ 4700 per patient, whereas one full year of imprisonment costs approximately US$18 400 per person." (The World Health Report 2001, Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope, http://www.who.int/whr/2001/main/en/index.htm)
Across the world, the availability of computer-assisted treatment and online support from ex-patients has opened up new ways of getting care. Former drug addicts can be very successful in helping themselves, and peer support has been important in a number of conditions for recovery and reintegration into society.
The computer-based drug and alcohol awareness will take patients on an unforgettable trip. They will learn how alcohol and drugs destroy the body and the mind. Hands-on materials, computer games and videos will make real the horrors and devastating effects of substance abuse. Most importantly, patients will be taught how to make wise, informed choices.
[ Objectives ]